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ON  THE  HEIGHT 


FIVE  SERflONS 


Delivered  on  New  Year's  Eve  and  Morning,  September 
2ist  and  sad;  on  the  Eve,  Morning  and  Evening  of  the 
Day  of  Atonement,  October  ist  and  ad,  1892 


ISAAC  5.  HOSES 

Rabbi  of  Kehilath  Anshe  Mayriv 


CHICAGO 

CHARLES  H.  KERR  AND  COMPANY,  PUBLISHERS 
1892 


ON  THE  HEIGHT 


FIVE  SERMONS 


Delivered  on  New  Year's   Eve  and  Morning,  September  zist  and  22nd;  on 

the  Eve,  Morning  and  Evening  of  the  Day  of  Atonement, 

October  ist  and  2nd,  1892 


BY 

ISAAC  S.  MOSES 

Rabbi  of  Kehilath  Anshe  Mayriv. 


CHICAGO,    ILL. 

CHAS.  H.  KERR  &  Co.,  PUBLISHERS. 


Stack 
Annex 


Oo 


To   Two  Friends: 

MR.  M.  M.  GERSTLEY, 

who  for  more  than  a  generation  has  been 

the  faithful  and  thoughtful  President 

of  K.  A.  M.,  and 

MR.  H.  N.  HART, 

the  present  liberal,  energetic  Leader^ 

to  both  of  whom  I  feel  greatly  indebted  J or 

counsel  and  encouragement, 

I  inscribe  these  few  pages  as  a  token  of 

friendship  and  gratitude. 

I.  S.  M. 


500784"' 


I.— ABOVE  THE  FLOOD. 


SEEMON  FOB  NEW  YEAR  S  EVE. 

TEXT  :  I  lift  up  mine  eyes  to  the  hills,  whence  cometh  my 
help.  My  help  cometh  from  the  Lord  who  made  heaven 
and  earth. — Psalm  130. 

The  year  vanishes  !  In  this  twilight  hour  it 
takes  leave  of  us,  or  rather  we  bid  farewell  to  a 
part  of  our  life.  Once  more  we  stand  upon  the 
border  lines  of  the  years.  Behind  us  and  before  us 
roar  and  rush  the  turbulent  and  turbid  waters  of 
time.  The  present  a  narrow  island — a  moment 
between  two  eternities.  Unto  us,  too,  the  mighty 
waves  are  reaching,  and  our  life,  like  the  ark  in  the 
Biblical  story  of  the  flood,  is  borne  upon  the  crest 
of  angry  billows,  tossed  and  beaten  by  the  storms 
of  fate,  driven  along  the  pathless  depths  of  time, 
while  no  one  knoweth  whither  his  fragile  ark  will 
be  carried,  or  where  at  last  it  will  find  rest ; 
whether  upon  the  mount  Ararat  of  power  and 
opulence,  or  in  the  vale  of  poverty  and  sick- 
ness. We  look  around  us  and  we  behold  on  all 
sides  the  devastations  of  all-engnlfing  time.  Where 
once  there  were  blooming  fields,  peaceful  homes, 
flourishing  cities,  to-day  we  find  but  ruins  and 


4  ABOVE   TUP:   FLOOD. 

fragments,  emptiness  and  waste.  Whatever  is  born 
of  time  is  again  swept  away  by  his  irresistible 
torrent.  At  the  beginning  of  a  new  year  we  may 
rightly  ask :  What  is  the  purpose,  the  end  of  this 
ever-recurring  deluge  of  time?  What  is  the  out- 
come of  this  ever- repeated  process  of  day  and  night, 
joy  and  sorrow,  birth  and  death,  growth  and  decay  ? 
Has  time  any  compensation  for  our  toil  ?  Do  we 
but  sow  upon  the  waves,  and  build  upon  billows  ? 
Above  the  storm  and  torrent  of  life  we  hear  the 
voice  of  Him  who  bids  worlds  to  come  and  to  disap- 
pear. The  voice  of  God  is  heard  above  the  waters  ; 
"The  Lord  dwelleth  above  the  flood."  He  who  is 
Timeless  and  Nameless,  breathes  upon  the  mighty 
deep  and  the  waters  subside.  In  this  twilight  hour 
comes  to  us  a  message  from  on  high,  bringing 
the  promise  of  peace  and  the  tidings  of  a  richer 
compensation  for  life's  toil  than  change  and  decay. 
As  unto  the  patriarch  of  old  so  to  us  comes  the 
dove  with  the  olive  branch,  assuaging  our  pains, 
allaying  our  fears,  and  teaching  us  the  divine  lessons 
of  faith,  of  hope,  and  of  strength,  in  the  battle  of 
life. 


Of  all  the  beautiful  symbols  which  nature  holds 
forth  to  man's  mental  vision,  none  is  so  rich  with 
meaning  as  the  olive  branch.  Its  juice  enlightens 
the  eye,  and  changes  darkness  into  day.  The 
olive  fruit  holds  within  its  tiny  form  the  promise  of 
light,  the  unborn  flame  ;  it  is  a  most  befitting  em- 


ABOVE  THE   FLOOD.  5 

blem  of  that  invisible  flame,  that  light  hidden 
within  the  soul  of  man,  which  alone  has  the  power 
to  enlighten  his  darkness ;  the  light  of  faith. 
Faith  in  God's  loving  care  ;  faith  in  the  abiding 
truth  of  God's  word  ;  faith  in  the  nobility  of  virtue 
above  the  evil  powers  of  passion.  This  living  faith 
was  the  patriarch's  anchor  upon  the  storm-tossed 
sea.  Such  faith  must  also  be  ours  if  our  ark  of 
life  is  to  bear  us  above  the  flood.  Then  a  thousand 
may  fall  by  our  side,  and  ten  thousands  at  our  right 
hand,  no  harm  shall  come  near  us. 

Our  age,  proud  of  its  achievements,  intoxicated 
by  its  victory  over  the  material  world,  has  lost 
this  priceless  gem.  Blinded  in  the  chase  for  dust 
we  mistake  the  senseless  mechanism  of  nature  for 
the  secret  Power,  the  Living  Spirit,  the  Eternal 
Cause,  moving  all  things.  A  self-sufficient  wisdom 
has  dethroned  God,  seeing  in  all  this  wondrous 
universe  nothing  but  blind  force  and  unconscious 
matter,  set  in  motion  by  some  capricious  accident. 
Evolution  is  the  magic  word  that  shall  explain  all, 
even  the  majesty  of  the  spirit,  the  dignity  of  man's 
moral  nature.  What  is  man  ?  A  child  is  he  of  the 
dust,  and  the  dust  then  is  his  goal.  And  the  mes- 
sage and  meaning  of  life,  man's  mission  and  destiny 
—is  but  strife  and  struggle,  war  and  woe,  destruc- 
tion and  dissolution.  Without  the  belief  in  an  all- 
wise  and  all-kind  Father,  in  whose  hand  are  the 
lives  of  all  beings  and  the  spirit  of  all  flesh,  life, 
indeed,  would  be  meaningless,  and  this  natal  hour 
of  a  new  year,  would  be  void  of  significance.  Why 


6  ABOVE  THE   FLOOD. 

pause  and  ponder  at  the  divisions  of  time,  when 
life  throughout  is  barren  of  value,  the  earth  but  the 
battle-field  of  contending  creatures  !  The  raven,  liv- 
upon  carrion,  is  a  fit  symbol  of  this  melancholy, 
merciless,  godless,  view  of  life.  He  brings  back 
no  message  of  peace.  Driven  by  the  hungry  desire 
he  leaps  from  ruin  to  ruin,  over  death  and  debris, 
content  to  feast  upon  rotteness  and  corruption. 
Such  was  the  wisdom  of  ancient  heathenism,  sunk 
in  the  quagmire  of  sensualism  and  vice,  and,  there- 
fore, swept  away  by  the  floods  of  history  ;  such  is 
theory  of  modern  atheism,  the  twin-brother  of 
materialism.  Here  on  the  threshold  of  a  new 
time  we  long  to  hear  the  sweeter  tones  of  the  return- 
ing dove,  bringing  to  us  the  message  of  peace,  the 
tidings  of  joy.  There  lives  a  God,  the  ol.ve  brai  ch 
preaches ;  there  lives  a  God  who  is  mightier  than 
the  mighty  floods  of  time.  His  word,  revealed  by 
Israel's  seers,  has  enlightened  the  world,  has  put  a 
new  meaning  upon  the  universe,  has  raised  the 
child  of  dust  to  the  dignity  of  a  son  of  God.  Hold 
fast  to  this  faith,  O  Israel,  it  is  thy  life.  In  it  thou 
hast  the  deepest  assurance  of  the  purpose  of  thy 
being,  of  the  value  of  thy  existence. 

For  in  the  light  of  this  noble  faith,  comes  to  us 
also  the  message  of  hope,  the  sweetest,  most  blissful 
promise.  Dark  and  cheerless  is  the  life  of  him  who 
but  toils  from  week  to  week,  from  month  to  month, 
from  year  to  year,  panting  under  the  load  of  cares. 
Estranged  from  that  perennial  spring  of  hope  whose 
limpid  waters  never  deceive,  he  erects  the  edifice 


ABOVE  THE   FLOOD.  7 

of  his  happiness  upon  the  changing  quicksand  of 
human  fortune.  Insatiable  becomes  the  hunger  for 
gold,  the  thirst  for  pleasure,  the  grasping  desire  for 
the  glitter '  and  pomp  of  the  world.  The  modest 
house  may  be  exchanged  for  a  proud  palace,  the 
simple  fare  for  sumptuous  living,  yet  the  soul  re- 
mains empty,  and  the  heart  void.  Without  aim  or 
purpose  the  spirit  flutters  to  and  fro  and  finds  no 
rest,  no  lasting  peace  upon  the  dark  and  dangerous 
flood  of  life.  He  will  never  find  true  happiness  who 
can  see  no  light  beyond  this  life  on  earth,  who  can- 
not link  time  with  eternity.  He  who  recognizes  in 
this  frail  body  of  dust  the  ark,  holding  the  imperish- 
able spirit,  is  lifted  above  the  flood  of  earthly  toil 
and  tribulation;  to  him  comes  that  heavenly  messen- 
ger: immortal  hope,  and  brings  him  the  assurance  of 
unending  bliss.  The  leaf  of  the  olive  tree  is  bitter, 
say  our  sages,  "yet  sent  by  God  it  is  sweet."  The 
trials  of  life,  the  sorrows  and  disappointments — 
what  mortal  man  is  exempt  from  them  ?  They 
come  unbidden,  like  the  advancing  tide,  rushing 
over  our  dearest  possessions,  destroying  our  most 
cherished  hopes.  How  many  have  come  here  to- 
night to  greet  the  new  year,  whose  souls  are  filled 
with  grief !  For  them  the  past  year  has  brought 
but  loss  and  tears.  They  have  seen  how  peris  liable 
is  all  earthly  beauty,  how  frail  is  mortal  strength, 
how  weak  all  human  enterprise.  Who  can  stem 
the  tide?  Who  can  pass  through  it,  and  not  be 
borne  down  among  the  rocks  and  rapids  ?  In  sick- 
ness and  bereavement,  in  the  long  list  of  afflictions 


8  ABOVE  THE  FLOOD. 

which  fall  to  our  lot,  where  can  any  refuge  be 
found  ?  The  waves  of  misfortune  will  break  over 
us  and  sweep  us  far  away,  unless  we  can  find  a 
foothold  above  the  flood  to  which  our  souls  can 
flee.  Such  a  refuge  there  is  in  the  thought  of  that 
Supreme  Wisdom  guiding  all  things  aright.  He 
sends  us  these  bitter  visitations,  and  coming  from 
Him  our  grief  melts  into  glad  foreboding.  Not  the 
cruel  raven,  but  the  beautiful  and  kindly  dove  is 
the  harbinger  of  the  divine  promise  of  consolation. 
The  bitter  leaf  of  sadness  is  changed  into  the  sweet 
and  healing  oil  of  comfort.  Therefore  despair  not, 
ye  who  are  heavy  laden.  Golden  the  new  year 
opens  before  you  as  before  the  surviving  patriarch. 
What  the  past  has  destroyed  the  future  will  re- 
place. It  need  not  be  in  one  year,  nor  in  one  life. 
The  one  may  be  the  stepping-stone  to  the  other. 
God's  purpose  runs  through  many  lives,  and  each 
one  of  us  is  but  a  bridge  of  hope  leading  from  one 
generation  to  the  other.  What  we  have  sown  in 
tears,  they  for  whom  we  lived  will  reap  in  joy  and 
gratitude.  This  the  glad  message  of  hope  wafted 
to  us  through  the  breezes  of  this  twilight  hour. 
And  so  with  this  message  of  hope  comes  to  us 
also  the  divine  assurance  of  strength  and  victory 
in  the  battle  of  life. 

What  is  life  ?  What  is  its  value,  what  its  mis- 
sion ?  These  are  questions  which  with  each  suc- 
ceeding year  more  vehemently  demand  reply. 
We  live  to-day  while  thousands  who  lived  with 
us  are  no  more.  For  what  purpose  have  we  been 


ABOVE  THE   FLOOl).  9 

spared  ?  Every  day,  every  year  that  is  granted 
to  us  is  a  trust  from  on  high  !  We  live  for  a 
duty,  we  have  been  spared  for  an  obligation,  we 
have  been  consecrated  to  a  most  sacred  task.  "  Go 
forth  from  the  ark,  thou  and  all  that  belong  to 
thee,  and  conquer  the  earth  !  "  was  the  divine  com- 
mand to  Noah.  Not  upon  the  ruins  of  the  past  to 
dwell,  but  to  work  in  the  living  present,  and  to 
triumph  over  all  difficulties,  is  the  solemn  bidding 
of  this  hour.  Work  is  the  foremost  duty  and 
privilege  of  man.  Of  all  creatures  he  alone  has  the 
power  to  free  himself  from  the  doom  of  chance,  and 
to  make  himself  independent  of  nature's  whims. 
He  studies  her  laws  and  chains  her  to  his  service. 
He  foresees  the  future  and  meets  it  with  plans  pre- 
pared. Whence  comes  to  him  this  power  of  king- 
ship, this  title  of  sovereignty?  It  is  his  heritage 
from  on  high,  it  is  the  divine  power  that  works  in, 
and  through  him.  Man  is  the  instrument  in  the 
hand  of  God,  to  mould  the  destiny  of  the  earth. 
Each  man  has  a  special  task  assigned  to  him.  No 
matter  how  humble  your  sphere,  how  lowly  your 
station,  how  scant  your  means,  if  you  fulfill  you- 
daily  duties  as  a  God-given  task,  you  are  par- 
taker of  a  divine  purpose,  and  divine  power  flows 
in  to  supply  the  need  of  your  human  weakness.  He 
who  conscientiously  labors  for  the  support  of  his 
dear  ones,  striving  to  give  back  to  mankind  in  the 
shape  of  noble  sons  and  daughters  the  blessings  he 
has  received,  he  is  an  anointed  priest ;  his  table 
is  the  sacred  altar,  his  house  a  temple  of  Most 


10  ABOVE   THE   FLOOD. 

High.  But  farther  and  wider  must  be  the  sphere 
of  his  activity  than  his  own  narrow  house.  The 
greater  the  gifts  with  which  God  has  blessed  us,  the 
greater  must  be  our  task  for  the  advancement  of 
human  welfare,  for  the  victory  of  truth  and  love. 
This  call  to  duty  appeals  with  greater  force  to  us 
as  Israelites.  The  consecration  to  the  priesthood  of 
the  Eternal,  lays  upon  us  a  greater  obligation,  not 
a  greater  privilege.  The  earth  has  not  yet  regained 
its  pristine  fairness.  As  yet  the  floods  of  hatred, 
the  rolling  tides  of  race  prejudice  and  persecution 
sweep  over  the  lands.  The  ravens  of  religious  in- 
tolerance still  carry  the  deadly  poison  from  country 
to  country.  Our  devotion  to  the  holy  cause  of 
Israel  must,  like  the  dove,  bring  again  to  the  world 
the  message  of  brotherly  love,  the  triumph  of 
human  right  and  dignity  over  the  evil  powers  of 
hatred  and  injustice.  Be  this  your  holy  resolve  to- 
night, to  become,  by  your  zeal  for  the  sacred  herit- 
age of  Israel,  true  priests  of  humanity.  Then  will 
this  hour  hold  out  to  us  the  emblem  of  victory, 
the  symbol  of  peace. 

With  strength  renewed  we  will  take  up  the  task 
of  the  new  year.  Hidden  behind  the  clouds  of 
uncertainty  are  the  events  of  future  days ;  but  we 
fear  not.  We  build  our  altar  to  the  God  of  truth. 
In  joy  and  in  sorrow  we  trust  in  Him  ;  for  athwart 
our  tears  does  vault  the  rainbow  of  divine  prom- 
ise. The  Lord  will  guard  us  from  all  evil  ;  He  will 
bless  our  going  out  from  the  old  year,  and  our 
entrance  into  the  new.  Amen. 


II.— THE  MORAL  IDEAL. 

MORNING  SERMON   FOR   NEW  YEAR'S   DAY. 

The  radiant  light  of  the  sun  pours  down  its  cheer- 
ful rays  upon  us,  gathered  in  this  house  to  welcome 
and  to  sanctify  the  new  year.  We  greet  trustfully 
the  beginning  of  a  new  time,  looking  forward  to  the 
days  and  months,  still  hidden  from  our  vision,  that 
they  may  bring  to  us  the  glad  fulfillment  of  endeavor, 
the  joyous  realization  of  our  enterprises.  Like  unto 
him  who  leaves  the  tumultuous  streets,  the  busy 
mart,  the  walled-up  inclosures  of  commerce,  to  seek 
the  fragrant  fields,  the  purer  air  of  the  mountain, 
so  we  to-day  escape  the  harsh  routine  of  the  daily 
task,  and  shake  from  us  the  burdens  and  cares  of 
the  year.  On  the  open  road  we  travel ;  the  silent 
forest  opens  its  portals,  centenary  trees  nod  and 
bow  from  on  high  a  genial  welcome ;  the  winged 
songsters  warble  for  us  their  charming  carols,  the 
rustling  leaves  make  music  to  our  steps,  and  the 
balm -laden  air  breathes  health  and  peace  into  our 
souls.  Onward  and  upward  we  proceed ;  higher 
and  higher  we  ascend  on  the  steep  and  winding 
path.  The  tall,  majestic  trees  recede  farther  and 
farther  ;  the  sun  sends  floods  of  golden  light  through 
the  thinning  foliage.  Suddenly  the  vision  widens  ; 
far  beneath  us  lie  garden  and  glen,  field  and  forest, 
the  rippling  brook  and  the  green  velvet  meadows. 


12  THE   MORAL   IDEAL. 

Before  us  the  sovereign  mount  lifts  up  its  cloud- 
piercing  head,  bidding  us  approach  nearer  to  its 
glorious  throne.  From  height  to  height  we  climb  ; 
the  earth  is  sinking  beneath  our  feet ;  the  air  grows 
thin  and  clear ;  awful  silence  reigns  around.  With 
winged  footsteps  we  have  reached  the  summit! 
Oh  what  a  glorious  sight  spreads  before  our  eyes  ! 
Endless  the  land  below,  endless  the  blue  vault 
above.  Vanished  out  of  sight  are  the  marks  and 
divisions  of  human  possessions  ;  the  boundaries  and 
barriers  of  men's  selfishness  or  pride.  How  small, 
almost  imperceptible,  seem  to  us  the  monuments  of 
human  industry  or  opulence !  Tall  buildings  or 
high  towers  appear  like  specks  in  the  gigantic  pict- 
ure. How  clear  and  distinct  are  the  outlines  of 
nature's  true  divisions  :  earth  and  sea,  ridge  and 
lowland  !  As  we  gaze  into  the  infinitude  above, 
below,  a  vapor  creeps  apace  ;  it  rises  and  spreads, 
enveloping  with  its  misty  veil  summit  and  crest  of 
the  mount.  A  dewy  chill  penetrates  our  very  being, 
reminding  us  of  the  stern  fact  that  not  forever  on 
the  height  can  be  our  abode,  that  into  the  valley  be- 
neath we  must  retrace  our  steps,  there  to  live  to 
work,  to  hope  and  to  spin  the  thread  of  our  being  to 
its  utmost  possibility.  But  the  eye  that  once  beheld 
the  enchanting  vision  will  ever  again  turn  its  glance 
to  the  lofty  height ;  the  soul  that  for  one  brief 
moment  has  drunk  in  the  beauty  and  glory  from 
above,  can  never  forget  the  heavenly  sight. 

To  such  a  lofty  mountain  I  would  to-day  lead 
you,  friends,  fellow-travelers  on  the  road  Time.  Up 


THE   MORAL   IDEAL.  13 

to  Moriah's  sacred  summit  let  us  walk,  to  the 
Mount  of  God,  from  whose  awe-inspiring  peak  we 
shall  gain  a  true  view  of  life.  "  Ifhar  Adonoy 
yeroeh"  From  that  spiritual  height  let  us  follow 
the  footprints  of  human  development,  in  order  to 
discover  the  Divine  Type,  tlie  Moral  Ideal  of  Hu- 
manity. 

From  the  chaos  and  confusion  of  conflicting 
opinions  as  to  the  destiny  of  man,  one  tone  persist- 
ently strikes  on  our  ear,  one  word  is  repeatedly 
heard  above  all  others — the  word  Happiness.  Both 
those  who  praise  this  world  as  the  best  of  possible 
worlds,  and  congratulate  man  as  the  most  favored 
of  all  creatures,  as  well  as  they  who  bewail  exist- 
ence, and  deplore  man's  lot  as  the  most  miserable 
of  all — they  are  all  impelled  by  the  deep  rooted  de- 
sire for  happiness,  the  longing  for  the  joys  of  life. 
From  the  first  faint  glimmer  of  the  dawning  intel- 
lect man  has  been  a  searcher,  not  of  the  good,  but  of 
the  better.  Ever  dissatisfied  with  his  surrounding 
he  sets  out  in  quest  of  better  pasture  ground,  more 
abundant  game,  new  fields  of  conquest.  Always 
the  unattained  is  the  goal  before  his  eyes.  As  he 
emerges  from  the  lowest  forms  of  brutal  savagery 
and  barbarism,  he  feels  the  insufficiency  of  his 
being,  and  seeks  to  fill  out  the  incompleteness  of 
his  nature  by  reaching  forward  to  some  higher, 
greater  attainment.  The  first  ideal  of  man  is  phys- 
ical strength,  bodily  superiority.  The  giant  hunter 
and  warrior,  a  Nimrod  and  Samson,  a  Hercules  and 
Siegfried  are  the  types  of  greatness  which  the  vast 


14  THE   MORAL   IDEAL. 

throng  seek  to  imitate.  Hero-worship  is  the  first 
stage  in  the  hierarchy  of  man's  aspirations.  The 
growth  and  formation  of  the  colossal  empires  of 
Asia  are  attempts  at  realizing  the  Ideal  of  Poioer. 
The  king,  wielding  undisputed  authority  over  life 
and  substance,  leading  multitudes  of  warriors  to 
victory  and  triumph,  is  the  ideal  man.  But  the 
heart  will  not  rest  satisfied  with  the  attainment  of 
this  ideal ;  for  behind  the  dazzling  splendor  of  regal 
power  it  discovers  the  shadows  of  human  frailty, 
disease  and  age  and  death  reveal  the  illusion.  The 
mind  awakens  and  seeks  a  higher  ideal  of  perfection. 
Here  on  earth  it  finds  only  fragments,  suggestions 
of  a  higher  order ;  it  locates  perfection  in  the  realm 
above.  Sunny  Greece  approaches  with  her  ideal  of 
Divine  Beauty.  Harmony  and  proportion  become 
standards  of  value  ;  sound  and  color  the  agencies  of 
higher  life.  Wider  and  deeper  become  the  chan- 
nels of  Hellenic  culture ;  linked  with  art  and  poetry 
arises  philosophy,  with  its  broad  discourse  upon 
reason,  weighing  and  balancing  the  swift-running 
thought.  It  is  the  artist's  view  of  life,  it  is  the 
Ideal  of  Genius  that  man  strives  to  realize.  In 
legend  and  in  law  this  struggle  of  genius  is  discern- 
ible. But  art,  beauty,  harmony,  are  only  the  indi- 
cators of  the  physical  senses  ;  they  rest  upon  the 
deep  abyss  of  that  natural  hunger  and  thirst  for 
pleasure.  Enjoyment  is  after  all  the  characteristic 
note  in  the  music  of  Greek  civilization  ;  happiness 
the  ever-recurring  theme  of  interest.  Truth  and 
error,  good  and  evil,  right  and  wrong,  are  at  last 


THE   MORAL  IDEAL.  15 

reduced  to  be  equivalents  of  agreeable  and  disagree- 
able, profitable  and  unprofitable.  Thus  it  is  while 
Greek  philosophy  is  non-moral,  Greek  mythology 
is  non-theistic.  Their  deities  lack  the  grandeur  of 
the  truly  Divine  and  Absolute  ;  holiness  and  right- 
eousness are  not  their  essential  attributes.  And 
though  to  Greek  mind  we  are  indebted  for  the  very 
name  of  Ethical  Science,  in  the  stricter  sense  of  the 
word,  in  which  it  traces  the  claim  of  Duty,  the  in- 
spiration and  enthusiasm  for  morality,  we  can  only 
say  that  Greek  thought  beckons  into  realms  whence 
we  see  the  mountain  of  a  higher  ideal.  History  is 
in  the  end  the  great  judge,  and  her  verdict  is  final. 
The  Greek  ideal  of  Beauty  carried  the  germ  of  dis- 
ease on  its  very  lips.  It  broke  down  all  virile 
strength  and  sapped  the  very  sources  of  morality. 
In  Rome  we  are  presented  with  the  ideal  of  civic 
virtue,  the  Ideal  of  the  State.  It  is  the  blaze  of  the 
empire  welding  all  nations  into  one  province,  under 
the  rule  of  one  law,  emanating  from  one  mind.  In 
this  attempt  Rome  foreshadows  the  ultimate  result 
of  historical  development,  one  mankind  under  one 
Invisible  Ruler.  But  the  means  which  Rome  em- 
ployed in  constructing  the  empire  state,  and  the 
motives  by  which  even  her  noblest  sons  were  guided, 
are  so  many  stains  of  blood  on  her  royal  robe. 
With  galling  injustice  she  pretended  to  enforce 
justice.  With  crushing  despotism  she  ruled  the 
conquered  nations  under  the  false  claim  of  impar- 
tial law.  There  lay  a  deadly  fascination  in  the  very 
idea  of  dominion.  To  rule  was  to  the  Roman  syn- 


16  THE   MOKAL   IDEAL. 

onymous  with  to  be.  Religion,  art,  science  are 
subordinate  to  the  idea  of  dominion.  All  relations, 
even  that  of  the  family,  are  tinctured  by  that  all- 
engrossing  influence  of  dominion.  Law  and  obedi- 
ence, master  and  slave,  are  terms  of  interchangeable 
value.  Rome's  Ideal  Man  is  a  Ccesar.  How 
closely  allied  are  Csesarism  and  servility,  dominion 
and  suffering,  law  and  injustice,  luxury  and  vice, 
the  later  history,  properly  called  the  decline  and 
fall  of  Rome,  fully  testifies.  The  name  of  Roman 
becomes  a  synonym  of  perfidy,  selfishness  and 
crime ;  the  word  virtue,  the  noblest  in  Roman 
tongue,  was  emptied  of  its  meaning. 

Nor  was  the  Christian  ideal  of  manhood,  which 
displaced  for  a  while  that  of  the  antique  world,  of 
more  abiding  value.  It  denied  the  world  and  its 
claims.  It  placed  itself  in  direct  contrast  to  all 
that  moved  and  stirred  the  healthy,  natural  man. 
It  divided  the  world  into  saints  and  sinners. 
Asceticism,  renunciation,  suffering  become  the 
prime  virtues  and  pieties,  the  passports  of  salva- 
tion. For  the  reward  of  self-denial  will  not  fail.  In 
the  heavens  above  the  hungry  and  the  thirsty  shall 
be  abundantly  satisfied.  In  thousandfold  meas- 
ures shall  the  renounced  joys  of  this  life  be  repaid. 
In  this  dualism  of  the  new  ideal  lies  the  secret  of 
strength,  but  also  the  cause  of  decay  of  what  may 
be  called  the  specifically  Christian  system.  In  the 
dark  ages  of  renewed  barbarism  this  ideal  has  been 
a  potent  factor  in  taming  down  the  unbroken  fierce- 
ness of  young  races,  in  curbing  their  unbridled 


THE   MORAL   ILEAL.  17 

passions,  and  holding  up  before  them  a  higher,  a 
diviner  order  than  war  and  victory,  destruction  and 
triumph. 

With  the  deepening  of  the  roots  of  culture,  with 
the  revival  of  learning  and  the  advancing  tide  of 
science,  the  ideal  of  the  saint  faded  like  a 
shadow  of  the  night  before  the  bright  rays  of  the 
sun.  The  theory  of  the  nothingness  of  this  world 
may  be  professed  with  pious  lips,  but  the  heart 
knows  nothing  of  it.  The  interests  of  this  earth, 
the  claims  of  nature  re-assert  themselves  in  most 
distinct  manner.  There  remains  but  the  illusion  of 
an  ideal  which  the  mind  has  long  since  discredited. 
Our  age  has  virtually  discarded  the  ideal  of  other 
worldliness.  This  is  an  age  of  dry,  prosaic,  prac- 
tical life.  And  what  is  the  ideal  of  our  day  ?  Like 
our  architecture  and  painting  it  is  a  combination 
of  all  past  styles  and  schools.  Into  the  composition 
of  modern  life  has  come  a  new  element,  unknown  to 
the  ancients.  Individual  liberty.  Ours  is  still  the 
age  of  invention,  and  each  succeeding  conquest  of 
physical  science  places  new  power,  new  means  of 
independence  into  the  hands  of  the  individual. 
Commerce  and  industry,  general  education  and 
political  security  have  combined  to  encourage  in 
the  individual  the  sense  of  his  overwhelming 
importance,  of  his  own  personal  advancement  and 
advantage.  For  his  sake  the  planets  revolve,  the  sun 
shines  by  day  and  the  stars  twinkle  in  the  silent 
night.  For  his  sake  alone  the  rivers  run  their  course, 
the  earth  unfolds  her  treasures  and  sea  and  air  form 


18  THE   MORAL   IDEAL. 

pathways  for  his  ships.  The  Ideal  of  Selfishness 
is  the  signature  of  our  times.  In  all  previous 
civilizations  the  individual  knew  that  he  was  an 
integral  part  of  a  larger  organism  which  rightly 
claimed  his  first  and  best  efforts.  To-day  the  fore- 
most thought  of  man  is  his  own  personal  advantage, 
regardless  of  any  other  interests.  To  rise  on  the 
ladder  of  success,  no  matter  how  many  others  are 
to  be  brushed  aside,  or  pushed  down  into  the  deep  ; 
to  gain  the  advantage  over  every  competitor,  and 
to  triumph  over  every  opposition,  is  the  aim  and 
ambition  of  the  modern  man.  Self-assertion  is  the 
great  virtue  in  the  catechism  of  our  age  ;  Success  is 
the  standard  measure  of  value  and  worth  ;  Posses  - 
'  sion  the  magic  word  that  charms  the  multitude  into 
reverence  and  obedience.  Personal  aggrandize- 
ment, personal  profit,  and  personal  pleasure,  are 
the  motives,  the  propelling  forces  in  our  modern 
society.  In  politics  as  well  as  in  commerce  he  is  a 
great  man,  who  has  outwitted,  perhaps  ruined, 
"  the  other  party."  A  Napoleon  of  Wall  Street  is 
the  ideal  of  commercial  circles,  and  Machiavelli' s 
maxims  will  receive  general  sanction  by  our  great 
political  leaders.  Nor  is  it  otherwise  in  those 
spheres  where  a  more  ideal  view  of  life  ought  to 
prevail.  Science  and  art  are  rated  as  merchandise  ; 
the  bar  and  pulpit  are  measured  not  by  the  amount 
of  good  they  may  do  to  others,  but  by  the  height 
of  income  or  the  number  of  pews  they  address. 
"Know  thyself"  was  the  Greek's  admonition; 
"Push  yourself  forward"  is  the  exhortation  of 


THE    MOKAL    IDEAL.  19 

to-day.  So  general  has  this  tendency  become  that 
all  relations  of  labor  have  been  distorted  ;  a  merci- 
less competition  has  robbed  industry  of  its  joy  and 
just  reward.  It  is  indeed  a  war  of  all  against  all, 
a  bitter  combat  of  every  individual  against  a  whole 
hostile' world.  Individualism  is  not  the  power  to 
lead  mankind  to  universal  peace.  The  ideal  of 
selfishness  leads  to  ruin  and  moral  bankruptcy. 
Egotism  ends  in  self-destruction.  Philosophical 
Pessimism  is  but  an  echo  of  this  selfish,  material- 
istic view  of  life. 

Contrast  with  these  false  idols  the  true  ideal 
which  Israel  holds  up  to  mankind !  The  noble 
type  of  manhood  presented  in  the  life  of  Abraham 
will  stand  for  all  ages  to  come  as  the  moral  ideal  of 
humanity.  He  wields  power  but  does  not  aspire  to 
dominion.  To  defend  himself  and  his  own  against 
aggression,  does  he  seize  the  weapon,  but  naught  of 
the  spoil  remains  in  his  hand.  He  is  a  master,  but 
those  that  serve  him  are  not  his  slaves  but  his  trusted 
friends  and  helpers.  He  possesses  of  worldly  goods 
in  abundance,  but  he  holds  them  in  trust  for  those 
who  need  his  help.  Not  a  crumb  from  the  table 
of  affluence  but  true  helpfulness  is  his  charity.  In 
peace  and  friendship  with  his  neighbors  he  seeks  to 
spread  true  religion  by  the  practice  of  true 
humanity.  Life,  according  to  Jewish  conception, 
is  neither  a  pleasure  ground  nor  a  battle-field  ;  it  is 
a  road  whose  name  is  Duty  ;  it  leads  not  downward 
to  destruction  but  upward  to  the  mountain  of  God. 
Devotion  of  life's  goods  to  higher  and  loftier  pur- 


20  THE    MORAL    IDEAL. 

poses  than  power  or  pleasure  or  individual  happi- 
ness. Not  what  life  lias  to  offer  to  him,  but  what 
he  possesses  to  enrich  the  world  therewith  is  the 
great  question  for  him  who  strives  after  the  true 
ideal.  Life  is  not  dominion  over  others,  not  self- 
assertion,  but  Service  and  Self-sacrifice.  And  the 
answer  to  the  stern  call  of  duty,  though  demanding 
of  us  the  severest  sacrifices  of  personal  joy  and 
happiness,  must  be  Abraham's  reply  :  "  Here  I  ant." 
All  I  have  and  all  I  am,  are  ready  to  be  sacrificed 
for  the  higher  good  according  to  the  divine  wisdom 
that  conies  from  above.  From  the  spiritual  height 
of  such  an  ideal  we  recognize  that  the  individual 
is  indeed  but  an  infinitesimal  part,  a  fragment  of  a 
grand  spiritual  system,  and  that  his  value  lies  only 
in  the  service  which  he  may  render  to  the  larger 
life  of  humanity,  for  the  spread  of  light  and  love, 
of  justice  and  truth,  of  wisdom  and  virtue.  Lies 
not  in  this  knowledge  a  fountain  of  joy,  a  perennial 
spring  of  true  happiness  ?  To  most  the  harassing 
question  on  a  day  like  this  is  :  What  will  the  new 
year  bring  to  us,  what  does  it  hold  in  store  of 
things  pleasant  and  unpleasant;  of  success  or  failure, 
gladness  or  sorrow,  life  or  death  ?  The  question 
which  the  true  ideal  addresses  to  each  one  of  us  is  : 
Do  you  bring  to  the  opening  year  your  soul's  best 
efforts  \  Have  you  made  of  yourself  a  better,  a 
truer,  a  nobler  man  than  you  were  before  ?  Can 
you  rise  to  a  higher  and  loftier  conception  of  life 
and  its  duties  than  the  pursuit  of  your  own  advan- 
tage ?  Happy  is  he  who  has  caught  the  vision  of 


THE   MORAL   IDEAL.  21 

the  true  ideal  from  on  high  and  is  yearning  to  live 
out  the  divine  pattern  in  his  own  limited  sphere. 
Naught  that  life  may  bring,  or  life  may  take  away, 
can  rob  him  of  the  soul's  serenity,  of  the  mind's 
peace  and  joy. 

Viewed  in  the  light  of  this  true  ideal,  even  our 
sorrows  and  disappointments,  nay,  the  severest 
trials,  life's  bitterest  experiences  are  sanctified  and 
transfigured.  As  to  Abraham  of  old,  so  to  many  a 
father  and  mother  comes  the  divine  command  : 
"Take  now  thy  son,  thy  beloved  child  and  bring 
him  an  offering  unto  me  !  "  Blinded  by  their  tears 
they  see  not  the  angel  of  love  standing  by  their 
side,  bringing  to  them  the  assurance  of  divine  bless- 
ing. Up  to  Moriah  lift  your  eyes,  all  ye  who  weep. 
Speak  with  the  noble  patriarch,  "Here  ami!" 
ready  to  obey  Thy  will,  not  minel  Then  your 
tears  will  be  dewdrops  of  hope,  reflecting  the  rays 
of  God's  eternal  light,  of  His  infinite  wisdom  and 
goodness. 

Thus  shall  we  be  sanctified  for  the  year  to  come  ; 
thus  shall  we  take  with  us  the  remembrance  of 
a  higher  vision,  to  ennoble  our  life,  to  bless  our 
endeavors,  to  fill  us  with  joy  and  strength  for  the 
performance  of  our  duty,  and  thus  shall  we  strive  to 
realize  as  far  as  we  can  the  higher  type  of  Israel' s 
genius,  the  Moral  Ideal  of  Humanity.  Amen. 


III.— THE  LAW  OF  CONSCIENCE. 

SEBMON  FOR  THE  EVE  OF  THE  DAY  OF  ATONEMENT. 

TEXT:  "And  Moses  said  to  the  people:  Fear  not,  for 
in  order  to  prove  you  hath  God  come,  and  that  His  fear  may 
be  within  yon,  that  ye  shall  not  sin."  —  Exodus  20 :  20. 

The  day  which,  unlike  any  other  in  the  calendar 
of  Israel's  sacred  festivals,  offers  to  us  religion's 
choicest  gifts,  may  rightly  claim  our  most  ardent 
devotion,  our  holiest  thoughts,  our  sincerest  re- 
solves. Amidst  the  desert  of  our  daily  life  it  stands 
out  like  the  fire  encircled  peak  of  Sinai,  the  mount 
of  revelation,  echoing  across  the  gulf  of  centuries 
the  voice  of  that  law  which  is  written  with  indelible 
letters  upon  the  tablets  of  human  hearts  and  hu- 
man souls.  Like  Israel  of  old  that  had  left  the 
bondage  of  Egypt  and  encamped  around  Sinai,  were 
awakened  by  the  thunder-peals,  the  lightning 
flashes  and  the  lurid  flames  emanating  from  the 
mount;  so  have  we  to-night  left  the  bondage  and 
burden  of  our  daily  cares;  so  are  we  aroused  by  the 
voice  of  conscience  ringing  through  our  soul.  In 
awe  and  trembling  we  stand  before  our  spiritual 
Sinai.  The  voice  that  spake  three  thousand  years 


2±  THE   LAW   OF   CONSCIENCE. 

ago  is  still  proclaiming  the  eternal  and  unchanging 
law  of  moral  truth,  is  still  demanding  obedience  to 
the  moral  obligation.  Who  is  there  among  all  who 
have  come  here  to-night,  so  callous  and  indifferent 
as  not  to  heed  the  summons  from  on  high?  Who 
feels  not  in  the  innermost -recess  of  his  heart  that  his 
past  life  has  not  been  a  full  and  harmonous  response 
to  the  divine  command  of  Duty!  The  visible  idols 
of  our  senses  have  had  greater  fascination  over  our 
soul  than  the  invisible,  but  ever-present  God  of  holi- 
ness, righteousness  and  love.  To-night  the  voice  of 
conscience  speaks;  it  cannot  be  hushed  into  silence. 
The  soul  longs  to  regain  its  pristine  purity;  the  heart 
cries  out  in  sorrow  and  anguish  to  be  reunited  with 
God,  to  be  reconciled  to  itself.  Not  forever  can  we 
bear  the  discord  and  conflict  within  us.  No  burden 
is  so  heavy  as  a  burdened  conscience;  no  weight  so 
crushing  as  the  verdict  of  self-condemnation.  When 
the  full  knowledge  of  our  failure  dawns  upon  us  we 
are  terrified  at  the  revelation.  We  tremble  at  the 
thought  of  our  spiritual  death,  we  cannot  endure  to 
hear  the  shrill  and  piercing  voice  of  self-reproach 
and  would  therefore  fain  shift  the  responsibility  of 
our  actions  on  others.  The  heavenly  claims  are  too 
high,  the  divine  law  too  severe;  let  human  weakness 
plead,  let  human  frailty  interpret  our  course. 
Therefore  does  this  hour  come  to  us  with  the  same 
encouraging  answer  which  the  greatest  of  all  pro- 
phets, Moses,  gave  to  trembling  Israel !  Fear  not, 
for  only  to  prove  you  has  God  come,  so  that  His  fear 
may  be  within  you  that  ye  may  not  sin  !  Not  to 


THE    LAW    OF    CONSCIENCE.  25 

crush  us  but  to  crave  us  back,  not  to  punish  but  to 
plead  with  us,  hath  God  invited  us  to  his  presence. 


There  is  no  word  in  the  whole  range  of  human 
speech  whose  sound  falls  with  more  ungracious  ac- 
cents upon  the  ear  than  the  word:  Sin.  It  is  not 
frequently  used  in  the  counting-room  or  the  parlor, 
and  is  scrupulously  avoided  in  the  gatherings  of  po- 
lite and  gay  society.  The  word  is  reserved  for  the 
pulpit,  and  even  there  it  is  employed  in  a  rather 
vague  and  general  sense,  having  reference,  perhaps, 
to  some  prehistoric  event,  or  to  the  inborn  weak- 
ness of  human  flesh.  It  is  thus  associated  with 
some  theological  notion  and  expresses  a  rather 
supernatural  relation  than  an  every-day  experience. 
The  modern  man  will  admit  that  he  has  erred,  he 
clearly  sees  that  he  has  made  a  mistake,  he  apolo- 
gizes for  his  gross  negligence  or  freedom,  and  is 
awfully  sorry  if  he  has  done  you  an  injustice.  He 
will  even  go  so  far  as  to  beg  pardon  for  an  obvious 
wrong  he  has  committed  and  will  be  ready  to  make 
amends  for  the  mischief  he  has  caused.  But  he  will 
never  confess  that  he  has  sinned,  except  in  a  per- 
functory, liturgical  manner,  repeating  a  prescribed 
formula  in  the  prayer  book,  or  from  the  preacher's 
lips.  Whence  the  abhorence  for  this  terse  and 
telling  word?  It  can  be  explained  only  from  the 
fact  that  it  touches  the  most  vital  relation  of  man  to 
himself.  It  is  affording  a  glimpse  into  his  inner 
life,  and  the  average  man  is  loath  to  reveal  the  true 


26  THE   LAW    OF   CONSCIENCE. 

motives  and  impulses  of  liis  nature.  To  most  men 
morality  means  simply  conformity  of  conduct  to 
rules,  usages  and  laws  laid  down  by  the  custom  of 
the  people,  the  authority  of  legislative  bodies,  or  the 
all-powerful  fashion  of  the  day.  To  do  right,  means 
for  them,  to  act  according  to  the  standard  of  pro- 
priety prevailing  all  around  them.  To  do  wrong- 
would  mean,  to  come  in  collision  with  the  law,  to 
defy  the  power  of  authority  or  of  public  opinion,  to 
antagonize  the  good  will  of  those  who  are  strong- 
enough  to  harm  or  to  help.  The  test  of  morality 
then  would  be  simply  this:  Will  this  action  hurt 
or  help  me,  is  there  any  danger  to  be  encountered  in 
this  course  or  the  other?  Will  it  entail  the  loss  of 
substance  or  reputation?  Who  shall  judge;!  Of 
course,  the  "world,"  the  men  and  women  in  whose 
midst  we  live,  and  for  whose  opinion  we  care.  But 
suppose  it  escapes  their  notice?  Then  nothing  has 
been  done,  no  wrong  has  been  committed.  As  long- 
as  the  "world"  can  be  kept  in  ignorance,  no  crime 
can  be  chu rged.  From  this  point  of  view  right  doing 
would  be  the  art  of  escaping  detection,  and  wrong 
doing  the  folly  of  being  caught.  Indeed,  the  mo- 
rality of  most  men  is  nothing  else  but  a  calculation 
of  consequences.  It  is  the  evil  result  they  fear,  not 
the  evil  itself.  To  gamble  would  be  no  wrong,  only 
to  lose.  To  deceive  others  would  be  perfectly  legiti- 
mate, provided  3Tou  can  carry  your  point  and  not  be 
outwitted  by  the  other.  This  dangerous  theory  of 
ethics  has  been  and  is  still  encouraged  by  a  no  less 
pernicious  theology,  usurping  the  name  and  fair 


THE    LAAV    OF    CONSCIENCE.  27 

robe  of  religion:  Virtue  brings  reward,  wickedness 
accumulates  punishment.  To  swell  the  list  of  our 
good  deeds  would  assure  an  equally  large  num- 
ber of  rewards  to  our  credit.  To  undo  the  per- 
formed wrong,  to  obliterate  the  evil  deed  charged 
against  us,  is  announced  as  the  highest  concern  of 
religious  ministration.  But  friends,  the  springs  of 
morality  lie  deeper  than  conformity  to  outward  law, 
the  sources  of  virtue  do  not  rise  in  the  desert  of  hu- 
man selfishness.  Behind  all  law  and  custom  is  the 
majesty  of  man's  moral  nature,  the  innate  sense  of 
right  and  wrong  independent  of  any  outward  sanc- 
tion, approval  or  disapproval.  Within  man  there 
is  the  consciousness  of  his  dignity  as  man,  or  to  state 
it  in  the  words  of  religion,  as  "the  image  of  God." 
His  heart  is  that  sanctuary  wherein  stands  the  sacred 
ark,  holding  the  laws  not  made  by  cunning  and  cal- 
culation but  revealed  on  the  Sinai  of  his  own  soul. 
This  consciousness  of  his  dignity,  this  contin- 
uous revelation  from  within,  is  not  an  incidental 
element  of  his  nature,  which  might  or  might  not  be 
there,  it  is  not  merely  a  part,  or  the  most  vital  part 
of  his  spiritual  constitution;  no,  it  is  his  whole  being 
as  man.  Without  it  he  is  not  man,  he  only  bears 
the  semblance  of  man.  He  is  a  creature  that  must 
be  held  in  restraint,  whose  passions  must  be  curbed, 
whose  greed  must  be  bridled  by  the  fear  of  penalty, 
whose  possibility  for  good  must  be  stirred  by  the 
prospect  of  reward.  He  has  to  be  goaded  by  the 
prick  of  the  law  into  conformity  of  conduct.  The 
moral  character,  the  ethical  personality,  alone  con- 


28  THE   LAW   OF   CONSCIENCE. 

fers  the  title  of  man.  In  it  lies  the  measure  of  man' s 
conduct,  the  gauge  of  his  good  or  evil  action.  He 
who  against  his  own  better  knowledge  and  convic- 
tion, perverts  the  right,  betrays  the  trust  placed  in 
him,  denies  the  truth  he  has  confessed,  takes  advan- 
tage of  another's  ignorance  or  weakness,  or  indulges 
low  appetites,  in  ignoble  passions,  in  degrading- 
pleasures,  is  not  only  doing  harm  to  others, 
he  is  desecrating  the  sanctuary  of  his  own  soul, 
he  is  destroying  his  spiritual  vitality,  he  inflicts  a 
mortal  wound  on  his  ethical  personality.  This  in- 
ward process  cannot  be  judged  by  the  world  without, 
it  is  not  amenable  to  the  verdict  of  law.  Public  or 
private  jurisdiction  extend  only  to  the  overt  act. 
It  is  the  deed  which  in  the  eye  of  the  law  constitutes 
right  or  wrong.  Before  the  tribunal  of  conscience 
it  is  the  motive  alone  which  stamps  an  action  to 
be  moral  or  immoral.  To  sin,  therefore,  means  to 
commit  a  crime  against  our  own  noblest  self,  to  rob 
ourselves  of  the  high  dignity  of  manhood.  Sin  is 
not  a  single  act,  nor  a  number  of  acts,  it  is  a  condition 
of  the  soul.  The  deed  alone  is  neither  moral  nor 
immoral.  Nor  is  the  harm,  or  injury  done  to  others, 
the  only  measure  of  wrong.  The  physician's  scalpel 
may  inflict  a  severe  wound,  and  yet  his  action,  im- 
pelled by  the  motive  to  heal  and  cure,  is  praised, 
while  the  vicious  stab,  perhaps  with  the  same 
instrument,  is  branded  as  crime.  The  evil  caused  to 
others  may  sometimes  have  been  a  blessing  in  dis- 
guise, or  it  may  long  since  be  forgotten  or  neutral- 
ized. The  grief  planted  on  the  heart  of  others  may 


THE   LAW    OF   CONSCIENCE.  29 

long  ago  have  lost  its  poignancy  and  been  forgiven. 
But  the  injury  done  to  our  own  moral  nature  can- 
not be  so  easily  obliterated.  The  corroding  blot  on 
our  soul,  the  deadly  poison  on  the  constitution  of 
our  character,  will  continue  their  work  of  destruc- 
tion, blunting  our  sensibilities,  and  driving  us  from 
evil  to  evil,  from  corruption  to  corruption.  This  is 
the  meaning  of  the  prophet  Ezekiel'  s  verdict:  "The 
soul  that  sinneth  shall  die."  Siri  is  the  death  of  the 
soul !  Who  can  deliver  us  from  this  spiritual  death? 
Who  shall  save  us  from  moral  destruction? 

Having  discovered  the  nature  of  sin  we  shall 
perhaps  be  able  to  find  the  way  to  overcome  the 
evil  and  triumph  over  it.  ' ;  Let  us  search  our 
way"  says  the  prophet,  "  let  us  examine  ourselves, 
and  return  unto  Thee."  Self-examination  is  the 
first  condition  to  recovery.  Not  craven  fear,  not 
cowardly  despair,  but  honest  and  true  self-knowl- 
edge can  win  us  back  to  our  nobler  self.  A  mis- 
taken notion  of  sin  and  repentance  has  led  man  to 
seek  help  where  no  help  can  be  found.  Neither  tears 
of  regret,  nor  works  of  penance  can  undo  an  evil 
deed,  and  no  power  in  heaven  or  on  earth  can  for- 
give our  sin,  unless  within  us  we  have  discovered 
the  root  of  evil,  and  with  sorrowing  heart  and 
strength  of  will,  we  conquer  the  evil  inclination. 
Many  a  man  has  shed  bitter  tears  over  his  sins,  yet 
when  temptation  came  again  it  found  him  weak  and 
yielding.  He  sincerely  repented  the  evil  deed,  but 
failed  to  banish  from  his  heart  the  evil  desire.  True 
repentance  must  not  only  lead  us  to  recognize  the 


30  THE   LA\V    OF    CONSCIENCE. 

wrong  we  have  done,  must  not  only  impel  us  to  win 
our  brother's  pardon,  by  making  good,  in  one 
way  or  other,  the  harm  we  have  caused  him,  but  it 
must  so  arouse  our  soul  as  to  make  us  morally  in- 
capable of  committing  a  base  and  ignoble  act. 
This  js  the  prophet's  idea  of  repentance:  "Let  the 
wicked  forsake  his  way,  and  the  man  of  evil  deeds 
his  sinful  thoughts. ' ' 

A  glance  into  our  inward  life  will  often  reveal  to 
us  depths  of  evil  of  which  the  world  knows  nothing, 
but  which  only  need  the  touch  of  opportunity  to 
rise  and  sweep  away  our  carefully  guarded  reputa- 
tion. How  many  a  man's  honesty  hangs  on  so 
thin  a  thread,  that  the  slightest  weight  will  break 
it  ;  let  emergency  test  him  and  it  will  find  him  un- 
prepared. Honesty  was  his  best  policy,  but  not  the 
root  of  his  character.  And  when  this  policy  proved 
dangerous,  he  adopted  another,  less  honest  but  more 
profitable  to  his  interest.  Hidden  in  the  secrecy  of 
our  memory  lie  the  broken  tablets  of  our  law,  the 
fragments  of  our  purity  and  innocence,  the  ruins  of 
the  peace  and  happiness  of  our  soul.  Our  vows  of 
love,  our  promises  of  friendship,  our  ideals  and 
our  aspirations,  our  faiths  and  our  hopes,  lie  shat- 
tered at  our  feet.  We  look  upon  ourselves,  and 
wonder  at  the  change  that  has  come  over  us.  In 
the  place  of  truthfulness  and  trust  has  come  lurking 
suspicion,  watchful  dissimulation.  Selfishness  has 
poisoned  the  sources  of  friendship ;  envy  has 
sapped  all  noble  ambition;  doubt  has  deadened  our 
belief  in  the  higher  good  of  life.  What  has  become 


THE   LAW   OF   CONSCIENCE.  31 

of  the  golden  dreams  of  our  youth  \  Satiated  to  dis- 
gust with  impure  pleasures,  mature  cynicism  laughs 
them  to  scorn — it  is  the  laughter  of  despair.  Then 
they  come,  trooping  in  through  the  avenues  of  our 
memory,  a  confused  multitude— our  sins  and  our 
follies  ;  our  evils  and  our  transgressions — the  mute 
witnesses  of  our  fall,  the  silent  accusers  before  the 
tribunal  of  our  conscience.  Whither  shall  we  flee 
from  before  the  Judge  within  ?  Where  can  we  hide 
ourselves  as  not  to  hear  the  shrill  voice  of  self-re- 
proach '(  At  the  bar  of  human  justice  we  may  obtain 
a  verdict  in  our  favor  ;  but  who  will  acquit  us  from 
the  awful  sentence  of  self-condemnation  ?  In  such 
hours  of  self-examination  we  weep  bitter  tears  of 
sorrow,  not  for  our  sins,  but  for  our  sinfulness  ;  not 
for  the  one  or  other  of  our  evil  deeds,  but  over  our 
own  self -degradation.  A  deep  sense  of  shame,  of 
sadness,  of  humiliation  comes  over  us  ;  we  feel  our 
utter  unworthiness.  In  this  painful  feeling  of  con- 
trition lies  the  germ  of -our  spiritual  recovery.  No 
false  excuses,  no  vain  pretensions,  no  hollow  eva- 
sions— but  openness  and  truthfulness  with  our- 
selves, can  bring  back  the  peace  of  the  soul,  can 
restore  the  lost  and  defaced  image  of  our  diviner 
self.  From  such  self-examination  will  result  not 
despair  and  death,  but  moral  regeneration,  moral 
re-birth.  Not  to  destroy  us  but  to  build  us  up 
comes  the  divine  call  of  conscience  ;  it  is  the  voice 
of  God  who  speaks  to  us  from  out  the  burning 
mount  of  our  inward  revelation.  Fear  not  this  voice, 
hush  it  not  into  silence,  for  "to  prove  you  has 


&Z  THE    LAW    OF    COXSCIJ:XCE. 

God  come,"  it  is  the  beginning  of  your  self- 
knowledge,  it  is  the  sign  of  re-awakening  reverence 
and  self-respect  within  you  ;  it  is  the  divine  assur- 
ance, the  moral  guarantee  that  you  will  sin  no 
more. 

When  Israel  in  the  desert  had  become  faithless 
to  the  divine  covenant  of  Sinai,  when  in  an  hour  of 
fear  and  self-delusion  they  forgot  the  God  who 
brought  them  forth  from  Egypt,  and  made  for 
themselves  a  molten  image,  a  golden  calf, — a  fit 
symbol  of  their  low  ideal :  the  greed  of  gold,  the 
lust  of  flesh — Moses  looked  upon  the  tablets  of  the 
law  and  behold,  the  signs  and  tokens,  the  words 
of  the  living  God,  had  become  invisible,  "the  letters 
had  taken  flight"  ;  he  held  in  his  hands  only  the 
dead  weight  of  the  tablets,  the  outward  form  of  the 
law.  Not  for  this  had  he  liberated  his  people. 
He  cast  the  dead  symbols  of  faith  from  him,  and 
broke  them  into  fragments.  But  when  the  people 
repented,  when  they  mourned  and  fasted,  and 
wept  over  their  sinf  ulness,  Moses  was  commanded 
to  prepare  new  tablets  of  the  law  in  the  place  of 
the  old  which  were  broken;  and  both  the  new  and 
the  fragments  of  the  old,  were  kept  in  the  holy  ark 
of  the  covenant.  In  this  ancient  tradition  you  have 
a  true  picture  of  the  inward  process  of  sin,  repent- 
ance and  forgiveness.  From  the  Egypt  of  our 
mental  bondage  we  are  led  to  the  Sinai  of  moral 
obligation,  we  receive  the  law  of  moral  responsi- 
bility. Obedience  to  the  outward  law  seems  to  us 


THE   LAW   OF   CONSCIENCE.  83 

a  sufficient  source  of  moral  strength.  In  the  hour 
of  weakness  the  outward  law  becomes  a  dead  form 
of  conventionality.  We  look  upon  the  broken 
tablets  of  the  law.  But  when  we  awake  from  the 
wild  intoxication  of  self-delusion,  when  we  writhe 
in  the  anguish  of  self -accusation,  there  comes  to  us 
another  revelation  from  within,  bidding  us  arise 
from  our  degradation,  and  prepare  the  new  tablets 
of  the  law,  the  Law  of  Conscience,  the  tablets  of  our 
inmost  convictions,  of  unswerving  faithfulness  to 
our  better  self.  On  these  new  tablets  will  be  found 
a  promise  not  contained  in  the  old :  '  •  It  shall  be 
well  with  thee."  Yea,  not  until  we  have  conquered 
the  evil  thought  and  triumphed  over  our  sinf  ulness, 
will  obedience  to  the  law  bring  to  us  true  happiness, 
the  joy  and  peace  of  the  soul.  Therefore  together 
with  the  new  tablets,  must  rest  in  the  sacred  ark 
of  our  conscience  the  fragments  of  the  old,  the 
remembrance  of  our  follies,  our  failures,  our  mis- 
deeds, to  waken  and  to  warn  us,  "that  we  shall 
sin  no  more."  Then,  and  then  only,  shall  we  hear 
the  divine  voice  of  love,  echoing  within  our  soul  the 
word  of  God  to  repenting  Israel :  "I  have  forgiven 
according  to  thy  word."  Amen. 


IV.— THE  DESTINY  AND  DUTY  OF  ISRAEL. 

MORNING  SERMON  FOR  THE  DAY  OF  ATONE- 
MENT. 

TEXT:  Isaiah  ii :  2-4,  or  Micha  iv:l-5 

Not  without  a  sense  of  awe  and  fear  do  I  rise 
to  speak  to  you  this  morning.  Conscious  of  the  high 
mission  of  this  day,  of  the  holy  opportunities  it  of- 
fers for  the  awaking  and  strengthening  of  our  faith 
in  the  heart  of  Israel,  I  am  painfully  aware  of  my 
own  insufficiency  to  do  justice  to  the  divine  task 
incumbent  upon  me. 

Once  a  year  the  high-priest  was  bidden  to  enter 
the  most  sacred  precinct  of  the  sanctuary,  there  to 
make  atonement  for  himself,  for  his  house  and  for 
Israel  whom  he  represented.  Once  a  year  it  is  the 
privilege  and  duty  of  him  whom  you  have  honored 
with  your  confidence,  whom  you  have  appointed 
your  spiritual  representative,  to  perform  the  sacred 
office  of  prophet  and  priest  in  your  midst,  to  lay 
before  you  questions  which  concern  us  most,  and. 
to  urge  upon  you  the  fulfillment  of  obligations  most 
vital  to  our  spiritual  life.  I  crave  your  attention, 
and  bespeak  your  patience.  May  He  who  girdeth  the 
feeble  with  strength,  endow  me  with  wisdom  and 
courage  to  worthily  fulfill  the  sacred  and  arduous 
task  of  this  hour. 


36  THE  DESTINY   AND  DUTY  OF  ISRAEL. 

Thrice,  my  friends,  have  yon  followed  me  to  the 
lofty  mountains  of  Bible-land.  On  Xew  Year's  eve 
we  rose  above  the  flood  in  the  ark  of  hope  to  Mount 
Ararat ;  on  the  New  Year's  morning  we  scaled 
Moriah's  height,  and  yester-eve  we  stood  before  the 
Sinai  of  our  conscience.  To-day  let  us  ascend  the 
holy  hill  of  Zion.,  the  Mount  of  God,  where  erst 
stood  the  Temple  of  the  Most  High,  and  the  palaces 
of  the  kings  of  Israel.  It  is  the  mountain  concern- 
ing which  the  two  greatest  prophets — Micha  and 
Isaiah — have,  in  almost  identical  words,  advanced 
the  most  exalted  vision  of  the  future  of  humanity  : 

"  It  shall  come  to  pass  in  the  latter  days  that  the 
mountain  of  the  House  of  the  Lord  shall  stand  at 
the  head  of  all  mountains  and  be  exalted  above  the 
hills,  and  all  nations  shall  flow  unto  it.  And  many 
peoples  will  go  say  :  Come,  let  us  go  the  mount  of 
the  Eternal,  to  the  house  of  the  God  of  Jacob,  and 
He  will  teach  us  of  His  ways,  and  we  shall  walk  in 
His  paths,  for  from  Zion  shall  go  forth  the  law  and 
the  word  of  God  from  Jerusalem.  And  he  will 
judge  between  many  peoples  and  He  will  be  umpire 
between  many  nations  mighty  and  afar  off,  and 
they  will  change  their  swords  into  plowshares  and 
their  spears  into  pruning  knives  ;  nation  shall  no 
more  lift  up  the  sword  against  nation  and  they  shall 
no  more  learn  war.  Though  all  the  nations  may 
walk,  each  in  the  name  of  his  God,  yet  shall  we 
continue  to  walk  in  the  name  of  the  Lord  our  God 
for  ever. ''  (Micha  iv  :  1-5. ) 

To  the  modern  reader,  these  high-strung  pro- 


THE  DESTINY  AND  DUTY  OF  ISRAEL.  37 

phetic  expectations,  after  a  lapse  of  over  twenty- 
six  hundred  years,  in  the  light  of  all  the  historical 
changes  and  events  that  have  taken  place  since 
then,  must  appear  very  visionary,  if  not  ridiculous. 
At  no  time  in  their  history  were  the  Jewish  people 
politically  in  a  position  to  justify  such  a  glorious 
outlook.  They  were  numerically  one  of  the  small- 
est of  the  nationalities  peopling  the  stretch  of  land 
from  the  Mediterranean  to  the  Euphrates.  Sur- 
rounded on  all  sides  by  more  or  less  hostile  neigh- 
bors, the  people  of  Israel  were  compelled  to  defend 
their  boundaries  and  to  light  for  their  existence. 
After  a  brilliant  but  brief  outburst  of  monarchical 
power  under  David  and  Solomon,  the  kingdom 
slowly  but  uninterruptedly  tended  to  decay,  until 
at  last,  first  in  the  North,  then  the  South,  the 
final  catastrophe  took  place.  The  nation  was  not 
only  conquered  but  politically  destroyed.  The 
Temple  on  Zion,  the  visible  symbol  of  national 
unity,  was  burned;  the  people  deported  to  a  foreign 
land.  And  though  they  returned  from  that  exile 
and  rebuilt  on  Zion's  hill  the  Temple  of  God; 
though  again  there  arose  on  its  crest  the  fort- 
resses and  palaces  of  Jewish  princes,  yet  was  their 
glory  but  the  reflected  light  of  Syrian  or  Roman 
power.  Soon  enough  the  last  struggle  began. 
Judah  succumbed  to  the  superior  strength  and  skill 
of  world-«conquering  Rome.  Judah's  sons  entered 
upon  the  long  and  dreary  pilgrimage  all  over  the 
earth,  homeless  wanderers  from  land  to  land,  from 
nation  to  nation.  Wherever  the  Jew  set  his  weary 


38  THE  DESTINY  AXD  DUTY  OF  ISRAEL. 

foot,  he  was  met  by  hatred,  confronted  by  malice, 
and  treated  with  injustice  and  cruelty.  Calumny 
and  contempt  followed  him  everywhere.  For  eight- 
een hundred  years  the  Jews  have  suffered  a  martyr- 
dom the  like  of  which  has  not  been  experienced  by 
any  nation  on  the  earth.  The  present  persecution 
of  Jews  in  Russia  but  faintly  represent  the  story  of 
suffering  they  had  to  endure  in  every  country.  The 
student  of  history  shudders  at  the  bestial  treatment, 
the  murders,  the  rapine,  the  wholesale  slaughter 
of  this  hunted  human  game,  as  he  follows  the  vari- 
ous streams  of  national  development.  Often  it 
seemed  that  the  nations  of  the  earth  had  fully 
agreed  upon  the  total  extermination  of  the  Jew,  so 
general,  so  persistent  and  so  pitiless  was  the  perse- 
cution of  these  unhappiest,  most  wretched  of  hu- 
man beings.  And  still  they  have  survived  the 
vicissitudes  ;  they  have  outlived  the  persecutions. 
They  are  to-day  more  numerous  and  more  vigorous 
than  they  ever  were  before.  They  stand  before  the 
world  like  Mount  Zion  untouched  by  the  flood  of 
time.  The  Babylonian  who  battered  down  the  walls 
of  the  fiast  Temple,  is  covered  with  the  sand  of  cen- 
turies ;  the  Roman  conqueror  who  caused  the  plow- 
share to  be  drawn  over  Zion  and  Jerusalem,  has 
vanished  from  the  earth.  His  triumphal  arch  in 
the  city  on  the  Tiber  stands  to-day  a  symbol  of  vic- 
tory in  honor  of  the  vanquished.  Byzantine  and 
Saracene  fanatics  raged  at  the  base  of  Mount  Zion. 
The  hosts  of  crusaders  shed  their  blood  at  the  foot 
of  the  sacred  mount,  and  still,  like  it,  Israel  stands 


THE  DESTINY  AND  DUTY  OF  ISRAEL.  39 

to-day,  firm  and  strong,  and  from  the  height  of  his 
prosperity,  he  looks  back  upon  these  dark  periods 
as  upon  a  past  and  bygone  time. 

It  is  but  natural  to  ask  :  Why  has  Israel  not 
succumbed  under  this  universal  hostility?  What 
explains  this  singular  historical  phenomenon :  the 
survival  and  preservation  of  Israel  to  this  very  day  ? 
Many  are  the  answers  advanced  in  explanation  of 
this  mystery.  The  Jews,  they  say,  possessed  greater 
vitality,  greater  power  of  resistance,  than  those 
mighty  kingdoms  that  oppressed  them.  But  this 
explanation  explains  nothing.  Whence,  we  may 
ask,  did  they  derive  this  greater  vitality,  this  endur- 
ing strength  ?  And  the  reply  comes  back  :  From  the 
fountain  of  their  religious  life.  The  heritage  of  their 
faith  supplied  them  with  the  armor  of  indestructi- 
bility, made  them  invulnerable  to  the  death-deal- 
ing shafts  of  hatred  and  persecution.  This  answer 
contains  but  question-begging  generalities  ;  it  only 
moves  the  mystery  one  point  farther  away  ;  it  sub- 
stitutes one  miracle  to  explain  another.  The  pres- 
ervation of  Israel  is  referred  to  the  power  of  Israel's 
religion.  But  has  not  Israel's  religion  been  subject 
to  the  like  treatment  ?  Great  as  has  been  the  per- 
secution of  the  Jewish  people,  still  greater  was  the 
persecution  of  their  religion.  And  the  wonder  of 
the  preservation  of  Judaism  is  more  astonishing 
and  inexplicable  than  the  preservation  of  the  Jews. 

It  required  no  small  amount  of  courage,  in  the 
face  of  the  splendor  of  Babylonian  and  Egyptian 
worshiD,  in  sight  of  the  glorious  monuments  of  the 


40  THE  DESTINY  AND  DUTY  OF  ISRAEL. 

art  and  architecture,  the  wisdom,  the  poetry,  the 
science  and  culture  of  those  nations,  to  assert  that 
their  gods  were  vanity,  their  worship  idolatry,  their 
wisdom  folly,  their  splendor  deceptive.  A  handful 
of  people,  of  inferior  civilization,  proclaims  the  be- 
lief in  an  invisible,  unapproachable  Deity,  declares 
that  to  Him  alone  obedience,  reverence  and  love  are 
due,  insists  that  besides  this  one  Eternal  God  there 
is  no  power  in  heaven  and  earth,  announces  that 
He  is  the  Father  of  all  men,  and  confidently  pre- 
dicts a  time  when  mankind  shall  be  united  under 
the  rule  of  this  just  and  holy  God.  The  antique 
world  took  no  notice  of  the  pretensions  of  this  in- 
significant nation.  And  when  the  attention  of  the 
leading  minds  was  forced  upon  this  strange,  abnor- 
mal religion,  it  evoked  no  sense  of  admiration  or 
approval.  The  first  impression  of  Judaism  upon 
the  classic  writers  of  Greece  and  Rome  was  a  most 
unfavorable  one.  To  them  it  lacked  the  elements 
that  should  make  religion  attractive  and  effective. 
They  even  missed  in  it  the  belief  in  Deity,  and  de- 
clared it  to  be  rank  atheism.  The  Jewish  rites  and 
religious  forms  were  the  butt  and  target  of  Roman 
wit  and  satire,  or  the  welcome  opportunity  for 
Greek  slander  and  accusation. 

When  Christianity  began  its  victorious  march 
through  the  Roman  world,  it  at  first  shared  the  uni- 
versal contempt  and  odium  in  which  the  Jews  and 
Judaism  were  held.  But  soon  it  severed  the  natural 
bond  uniting  it  with  its  mother-faith  ;  it  stood  out 
in  bold  contrast  to  both  heathenism  and  Judaism. 


THE  DESTINY  AND  DUTY  OF  ISRAEL.  41 

By  casting  off  the  national  and  ceremonial  garb  of 
the  religion  of  which  it  sprang,  and  by  adapting  it- 
self to  the  methods  and  needs  of  heathen  thought, 
it  worked  its  way  upward  from  the  prison,  the 
slave-den  and  the  vulgar  crowd  to  the  emperor's 
throne,  the  palaces  of  the  mighty  and  the  halls 
of  the  learned.  And  in  the  measure  as  Christianity 
rose  to  power  it  became  more  hostile  to  the  faith 
out  of  which  it  had  grown.  It  repeated  the  accusa- 
tions and  vile  slanders  of  its  former  heathen  enemies 
and  charged  them  upon  Judaism.  The  freedom  of 
worship  which  under  heathen  empire  was  granted 
to  the  Jew,  under  Christian  supremacy  was  either 
withdrawn,  or  restricted  with  humiliating  condi- 
tions. Nation  after  nation  bent  their  heads  to  the 
cross,  the  Jew  alone  refused  to  renounce  his  ances- 
tral faith.  For  tills  reason  did  he  suffer;  for  the  sake 
of  his  religion  did  he  endure  the  fearful  martyrdom. 
The  doctrines  of  Judaism  were  branded  as  blas- 
phemy, the  practice  of  Jewish  rites  were  stigma- 
tized as  sorcery  and  witchcraft.  The  profession  of 
Judaism  meant  contempt,  exclusion,  insecurity  of 
life  and  property,  disfranchisement,  exile  and 
often  death.  Renunciation  of  Judaism  secured 
equal  rights,  honors  in  Church  and  State,  inter- 
marriage with  the  noblest  families  of  the  land, 
wealth,  power,  influence.  Under  such  pressure, 
under  such  unequal  conditions,  is  it  not  strange, 
nay,  marvelous,  that  Judaism  has  survived — that 
the  Jewish  people  would  rather  suffer  a  thousand- 
fold death  than  renounce  their  faith  ? 


42  THE  DESTIXY  ATsTD  DUTY  OF  ISRAEL. 

And  even  to-day  in  the  bteze  of  modern  life  and 
culture,  this  miracle  is  repeated.  The  religion  of 
the  civilized  world  to-day  is  the  Christian  system. 
Language  and  literature,  law  and  government  are 
permeated  with  the  ideas  and  pet  phrases  of  the  Xew 
Testament  religion.  Civilization  itself  is  repre 
sented  as  a  fruit  of  Christian  thought.  The  noblest 
hearts  center  their  hopes  in  ideas  and  doctrines  in 
opposition  to  Jewish  thought.  In  many  European 
countries  Judaism  is  still  the  barrier  to  political 
equality.  Where  that  equality  is  constitutionally 
guaranteed  the  Jewish  confession  will  bring  to  the 
aspirant  for  a  public  office  no  end  of  annoyance, 
insult  and  exclusion.  In  this  country  of  nominally 
equal  rights  and  duties  the  Jew  often  discovers  to 
his  dire  disappointment,  that  there  is  a  mighty  differ- 
ence between  the  Old  Testament  and  the  New. 
Were  he  to  give  up  his  antiquated,  impracticable 
sort  of  religion,  and  embrace  Christianity,  he  will 
be  welcomed  with  joy  as  a  long  lost  and  newly 
found  brother. 

And  still,  in  spite  of  all  these  overwhelming  odds 
against  it,  Judaism  holds  its  own  and  confidently 
proclaims  the  triumph  of  its  spiritual  and  moral 
ideas  ;  it  still  has  the  power  to  warm  the  hearts  and 
fire  the  minds  of  thousands  of  its  children,  that 
they  rather  choose  to  hold  fast  to  a  system  so 
widely  discredited,  than  to  accept  a  faith  generally 
pronounced  to  be  superior,  richer,  more  universal 
than  the  religion  of  Israel.  What  accounts  for  this 


THE  DESTINY  AND  DUTY  OF  ISRAEL.  43 

modern  miracle  ?     What  explains   this  wonder  of 
the  preservation  of  Judaism  \ 

If  the  history  of  the  human  race  is  not  a  con- 
glomeration of  disconnected  events,  if  human  life 
on  earth  is  not  to  be  measured  merely  by  the  num- 
ber of  wars  and  defeats,  of  the  rise  and  fall  of  na- 
tions ;  if  the  course  of  humanity  is  a  closely  linked 
chain  of  development,  of  cause  and  effect,  all 
events  tending  toward  a  goal,  however  far.  off  that 
goal  may  seem. — if,  in  a  word,  history  reveals  a  di- 
vine plan,  and  a  divine  idea, — then  the  life  and  des- 
tiny of  Israel,  the  share  of  Jewish  thought  and 
energy  in  the  composition  of  humanity  can  by  no 
means  be  considered  a  mere  accident  or  a  passing 
phase  ;  then  Jew  and  Judaism  must  have  a  divinely 
appointed  mission,  a  God-given  task  in  the  world- 
historic  process  of  the  human  race.  An  impartial 
glance  at  the  history  of  human  thought  will  discover 
two  currents  of  intellectual  life :  the  one  springing 
from  the  contemplation  of  nature,  the  other  rising 
from  the  heart  of  man.  Dazzled  and  intoxicated  by 
the  manifold  ness,  the  ever-changing  moods,  and 
fascinating  play  of  life  in  nature,  the  nations  of  old 
lost  themselves  in  wild  speculations,  which  led  to  a 
grotesque  and  exaggerated  relation  of  man  to  the 
physical  world.  Observation  of  nature  led  them  to 
the  imitation  of  nature's  ways,  but  no  observation 
of  nature  teaches  moral  truths.  Nature  is  indiffer- 
ent to  man's  moral  needs.  Heathenism  is  nature- 
religion,  and  all  nature-religion  is  essentially 
unmoral,  if  not  immoral.  There  was  needed  an 


44  THE  DESTINY  AND  DUTY  OF  ISKAEL. 

opposite  bias.  The  Hebrew  mind  starts  from  a  dif- 
ferent direction.  The  vision  is  an  inward  one,  it 
beholds  the  seat  of  the  spirit,  it  contemplates  man, 
not  as  a  child  of  nature  subject  to  her  whim  and 
will,  but  as  a  child  of  the  Spirit  which  is  superior 
to  nature.  Man  is  the  main  concern  of  Jewish 
thought ;  his  spiritual  and  moral  health  the  chief 
problem  of  religion.  The  diversity  of  natural 
forces,  so  alluring  to  the  heathen  mind,  disappears 
before  the  eye  of  the  Jew,  he  sees  all  nature  subject 
to  the  one  Will  speaking  through  his  soul.  He  dis- 
covers a  unity  in  nature  after  he  has  found  within 
himself  the  revelation  of  the  one,  holy,  just  and 
merciful  God.  To  him  God  is  a  God  of  history,  who 
manifests  his  purposes  in  the  life  and  fate  of  the 
nations.  Life  is  no  mere  repetition  of  the  process 
of  nature,  but  an  historical  procession,  an  ethical 
movement. 

These  two  ideas:  spiritual  unity  and  moral 
progress,  are  the  Hebrew's  contribution  to  the  un- 
folding life  of  humanity.  The  whole  history  of 
Israel,  the  construction  of  his  religious  edifice,  even 
the  whole  system  of  his  ceremonial  law,  are  the 
framework  of  these  ideas.  Nor  have  these  thoughts 
remained  inactive.  True  ideas  are  living  forces,  if 
once  they  have  taken  possession  of  the  mind.  We 
do  not  seek  them,  they  seek  us,  they  possess  us  and 
make  us  their  instruments.  Like  sparks  that  fly 
up  from  the  glowing  iron  when  beaten  upon  the  an- 
vil, so  did  Jewish  ideas  spread  through  the  heathen 
world,  scattered  by  the  blows  of  national  mis- 


THE  DESTINY  AJSTD  DUTY  OF  ISRAEL.  45 

fortunes.  Israel's  political  life  had  to  be  shattered, 
in  order  that  the  Israel's  truth  should  become  known 
to  the  world.  But  not  in  a  direct  way  did  the  light 
of  Jewish  ideas  reach  the  eye  of  mankind.  The 
nations  of  the  antique  world  were  indeed  ripe  for  a 
new  form  of  faith,  they  hungured  for  new  truth, 
and  new  moral  inspiration,  but  they  were  not  ripe 
for  the  pure  thought  and  the  lofty  idealism  of 
Israel.  Therefore  was  an  immediate  agency  needed, 
to  carry  the  new  inspiration  from  Zion's  hill  unto 
all  nations.  Christianity  spelled  Israel's  Word 
to  the  Gentile  mind ;  it  blended  Jewish  thought 
with  heathen  conceptions.  The  principle  of  unity 
suffered  dilution  in  a  trinity ;  the  ^principle  of 
moral  progress  was  overshadowed  by  the  sense  of 
man's  utter  worthlessness  ;  the  vision  of  historical 
procession  was  reversed,  and  the  pathetic,  yet  hope- 
ful drama  of  human  life  was  turned  into  a  tragedy: 
God  dying  on  the  cross  for  the  sins  of  man.  Only 
in  this  heathenized  form  could  the  burden  of  Jewish 
thought,  the  fatherhood  of  God  and  the  brother- 
hood of  man  vitalize  and  invigorate  the  nations. 
Christian  theism  and  Christian  morality  have  in- 
deed produced  vital  changes  in  the  life  of  mankind; 
but  their  cogency  lay  not  in  what  they  differed 
from,  but  in  the  measure  in  which  they  reflected 
the  original  Jewish  thought.  Again  and  again  the 
deeper  minds  went  back  to  the  primitive  source  and 
drew  new  inspiration  from  Israel's  Word.  After 
eighteen  hundred  years  of  combat  and  conquest,  of 
trial  and  triumph,  of  growth  and  spread,  the  con- 


46  THE  DESTINY  AND  DUTY  OF  ISRAEL. 

viction  that  is  gaining  in  strength  in  the  minds  of 
the  finest  and  most  unprejudiced  thinkers  of  to-day, 
is,  that  the  essentially  Christian  doctrines  can  no 
more  command  allegience ;  that  the  civilized  world 
has  outgrown  the  belief  in  an  incarnate  God,  in 
vicarious  atonement,  and  the  whole  plan  of  salva- 
tion, forming  the  basis  of  the  Christian  system. 
Though  but  a  small  minority,  the  Straus,  Renan, 
Tyndall,  Hartman  and  Ziegler,  and  a  host  of  others, 
voice  the  true  conviction  of  representative  thought, 
when  to  the  query:  "Are  we  yet  Christians?'' 
They  answer  in  the  negative:  "We  are  not." 
Civilization  to-day  can  no  more  be  called  Christian 
than  it  canjbe  called  Jewish.  It  is  the  result  of 
forces  that  lay  beyond  the  sphere  of  Christian  inter- 
est. Dogmatic  Christianity  is  by  its  nature  rather 
hostile  to  the  progress  of  physical  science  and  the 
increasing  emphasis  of  the  interests  of  this  world, 
than  otherwise. 

It  is  therefore  not  an  idle  boast  of  ignorance  or 
impotence,  if  the  assertion  is  made  that  the  Jew  is 
still  needed  in  the  process  of  human  development. 
A  partial,  nay,  prejudiced  interpretation  of  his- 
tory, would  fain  read  us  out  of  life.  The  mission 
of  the  Jew  lies  in  the  past,  they  say  ;  his  function 
was  a  preparation  for  Christianity.  Prophetic  in- 
spiration breathed  its  last  with  Malachi.  Jewish 
thought  died  with  Philo  of  Alexandria.  Whatever 
truth  Judaism  had  produced,  it  is  claimed,  has 
passed  into  the  new  dispensation.  They  forget,  or 
pretend  not  to  know,  that  two  thousand  years  in 


THE  DESTINY  AND  DUTY  OF  ISRAEL.  47 

the  life  a  people  cannot  be  looked  upon  as  a  blank, 
least  of  all  of  a  people  intellectually  so  keenly  alive 
and  morally  so  sensitive  as  the  Jewish  people.  An 
uninterrupted  stream  of  .mental  life  courses  down 
the  ages,  carrying  the  precious  freight  from  genera- 
tion to  generation.  The  names  of  Simon,  the  Just 
and  Ben  Sirach,  of  Hillel  and  Akiba,  of  Rab  and 
Mar  Samuel,  of  Sadia  and  Maimonides,  of  Halevi, 
Ibn  Ezra  and  Ibn  Gabirol,  of  Abarbanel,  Manasseh 
Ben  Israel,  Spinoza,  Mendelssohn,  of  Zunz,  Geiger, 
Jost,  Gnetz,  Samuel  Hirsch,  and  a  host  of  thinkers 
still  living,  are  evidence  of  the  ceaseless  mental 
activity,  of  the  continual  intellectual  work  going 
on  within  Israel.  The  great  law  of  progress— has  it 
not  at  all  affected  the  current  of  Jewish  life?  Do 
we  to-day  hold  exactly  the  same  position  as  in  the 
time  of  Jewish  nationality?  or  Talmudical  exclu- 
siveness?  or  under  the  pressure  of  persecution? 
Has  Jewish  thought  not  advanced  since  eighteen 
hundred  years  ?  A  comparative  study  of  the  two 
religious  streams  will  reveal  the  fact  that,  however 
much  Christianity  has  taken  over  from  Judaism  it 
is  not  a  fulfillment  and  consummation  of  Judaism, 
but  a  sideral  movement ;  that  Judaism  has  con- 
tinued its  own  stream  of  development,  fructify- 
ing in  direct  and  indirect  ways  the  minds  of  the 
nations  and  that  it  holds  within  it  the  precious 
germ  of  a  Universal  ^Religion  of  Humanity  still 
to  be  realized.  The  drift  of  modern  thought  seems 
to  go  in  this  direction.  The  emphasis  in  favor  of 
undogmatic  religion,  the  preponderance  of  -the 


48  THE  DESTINY  AND  DUTY  OF  ISKAEL. 

ethical  interests  over  theological  speculation  indi- 
cate a  return  to  the  simplicity  and  rationality  of 
Jewish  faith  and  the  purity  of  Jewish  morality. 
Modern  Judaism  is  a  living  witness  to  the  eternal 
truth,  the  divine  message  with  which  Israel  has 
been  charged  unto  all  nations.  In  this  message 
and  in  this  mission  lies  the  secret  of  our  inde- 
structibility, the  reason  of  the  wonderful  preserva- 
tion of  Judaism  and  the  Jewish  people.  They  are 
still  needed  as  an  essential  element  in  the  divine 
plan  of  the  education  of  man  and  mankind. 


From  this  fact  must  spring  the  kindling  spark 
of  our  enthusiasm  for,  and  our  devotion  to  the  holy 
cause  of  Israel.  To  knowr  that  we  are  living  for  a 
purpose,  that  we  are  a  link  in  the  spiritual  chain 
of  humanity,  and  that  by  our  work,  by  our  moral 
fervor,  our  faithfulness  and  fidelity  to  our  intrusted 
charge,  we  are  furthering  the  advent  of  the  time 
predicted  by  our  prophets,  the  time  of  universal 
righteousness  and  peace,  is,  for  noble  minds  and 
pure  hearts,  a  source  of  the  highest  joy,  of  the 
sweetest  recompense.  In  a  time  of  growing  materi- 
alism and  increasing  selfishness  ;  in  a  time  when 
mankind  is  more  than  ever  divided  into  hostile 
camps,  when  nation  against  nation  stands  armed 
to  the  teeth,  when  class  interest  and  class  hatred  in- 
tensify the  bitter  struggle  for  existence  ;  in  a  time 
of  reawakened  prejudice  and  intolerance,  of  secta- 
rian bigotry  and  religious  persecution, — in  such  a 


THE  DESTINY  AND  DUTY  OF  ISRAEL.  49 

time  it  is  the  duty  of  the  Jew  to  stand  loyally  by 
his  ancestral  faith,  to  uphold  the  flag  of  his  rational 
belief,  of  his  purer  morality,  of  his  broader  human- 
ity than  creed  or  race.  The  present  is  not  a  time 
for  indifference.  It  ill  behooves  the  modern  Jew  to 
neglect  his  own  sacred  heritage,  to  cast  aside  the 
symbols  of  his  noble  faith,  to  cut  assunder  the  ties 
binding  him  to  his  past,  and  to  hold  in  derision  the 
assurance  of  his  great  mission  for  the  future  of  hu- 
manity. It  is  by  no  means  an  evidence  of  deeper 
wisdom  and  superior  culture,  in  him  who,  with  his 
birth  has  received  the  divine  charge  of  Israel's 
truth,  to  refuse  allegiance  to  the  common  obligation, 
to  stand  aloof  from  the  burdens  and  responsibilities 
of  his  Jewish  brethren.  Nor  does  it  betray  any  de- 
gree of  self-respect  in  the  modern  Jew,  instead  of 
upbuilding  and  maintaining  his  own  religious  edi- 
fice, to  admire  and  to  imitate  everything  which  does 
not  bear  the  sign  of  Jewish  origin.  They  are  not 
only  false  to  their  God-given  trust,  who  wantonly 
despise  their  own,  but  they  are  also  faithless  to  the 
larger  and  higher  interests  of  humanity.  If  not 
from  the  fountain  of  their  own  past,  from  what 
source  will  they  draw  inspiration?  The  thought 
that  nourishes  the  spiritual  and  moral  life  of  the 
Christian  has  no. spell  over  the  Jewish  mind,  has  no 
warmth  for  the  Jewish  heart.  From  the  roots  of 
his  own  religious  and  ethical  association  must  grow 
the  tree  that  is  to  bear  the  ripe,  delicious  fruit  of  his 
character.  Are  we  so  poor,  morally,  and  mentally, 
that  we  must  go  borrowing  and  begging  from  other 


50  THE  DESTINY  AND  DUTY  OF  ISRAEL. 

creeds  to  embellish  our  own  sanctuary  ?  Have  we  pro- 
duced no  wealth  of  mind  and  heart  in  the  long  pro- 
cess of  the  ages  \  In  our  Sabbath  and  in  our  festi- 
vals, in  our  literature  and  in  our  liturgy,  are  stored 
untold  treasures  of  heart  and  soul-inspiring  truth. 
Ours  is  the  duty  to  avail  ourselves  of  these  treas- 
ures of  our  past,  to  vitalize  with  the  fervor  of  our 
soul  the  forms  and  symbols  of  our  world-historic 
mission  ;  to  kindle  with  the  flame  of  our  affections 
in  the  heart  of  our  children  love  and  reverence, 
energy  and  enthusiasm  for  the  ideas  and  ideals  of 
Judaism. 

This  holy  task,  this  solemn  obligation,  appeals 
with  greater  emphasis  to  the  heart  of  the  women  in 
Israel,  the  wives,  the  mothers,  the  priestesses  of 
the  Jewish  home.  It  is  theirs,  principally,  to  watch 
that  the  sacred  flame  of  reverence  and  true  piety  be 
not  extinguished  on  the  altar  of  filial  affection  ;  that 
the  light  of  a  rational  faith  shall  shine  in  the  temple 
of  the  home,  making  the  faces  of  all  members  of  the 
family  bright  with  inward  blessing.  Mothers  in 
Israel,  beware  how  you  fulfill  your  sacred  task ! 
No  earthly  wealth,  or  outward  accomplishment  can 
supply  the  lack  of  religious  inspiration,  can  fill 
out  the  emptiness  of  the  soul ;  and  no  amount  of 
worldly  wisdom  will  be  guarantee  and  safeguard  of 
your  children's  moral  health.  Jewish  wives,  sanc- 
tify your  homes  with  love  and  devotion  for  the  re- 
ligion of  your  fathers  and  mothers,  let  Sabbath 
and  festival  greet  you  with  peace  and  be  welcomed 
with  joy ;  then  will  the  spirit  of  true  love  and 


THE  DESTINY  ATSTD  DUTY  OF  ISRAEL.  51 

holy  affection  reign  in  your  house,  and  more 
than  all  arts  and  graces  win  and  hold  your  hus- 
bands' faithful  love.  The  home  is  the  nursery  of 
virtue,  the  home  is  the  stronghold  of  religion.  In 
the  Jewish  home  lies  the  future  of  Judaism. 

Let  us  then  be  faithful  to  our  duty.  The  visions 
of  a  universal  religion,  of  a  humanity  redeemed 
from  error  and  vice,  united  under  the  law  of  the 
one  eternal  God  of  Israel,  is  not  an  idle  play  of 
fancy,  not  the  vain  glory  of  arrant  assertion — it  is 
the  hope  of  mankind,  the  noblest  aspiration  of  the 
soul.  Until  that  time  will  come,  until  the  glorious 
prophesy  shall  be  fulfilled,  when  all  nations  shall 
recognize  the  truth  which  Israel  has  proclaimed, 
until  the  day  dawns  when  all  barriers  shall  be  re- 
moved, all  distinctions  be  wiped  out,  and  all  the 
families  of  the  earth  worship  in  the  spirit  on  the 
mountain  of  God's  house — until  that  time  has  come, 
we,  of  the  house  of  Israel,  must  remember  the 
prophet's  exhortation:  "Though  all  nations  may 
walk  in  the  name  of  their  gods,  yet  shall  we  con- 
tinue to  walk  in  the  name  Eternal  our  God,  for  ever 
and  aye."  Amen. 


V.— HOFFNUNG  UND  TROST. 

SKIZZE   DER  NEILA-PREDIGT. 

Die  Scheidestunde  des  Tages  naht.  Nur  noch 
kurze  Zeit  und  das  heilge  Werk  1st  vollbracht. 
Welclie  Fuelle  von  Gedanken  und  Empfindungen 
haben  die  weihevollen  Melodien  nicht  in  unserer 
Seele  geweckt !  Nicht  ein  Opfer  haben  wir  gebracht 
durch  unser  Verweilen  an  dieser  Stsette  vom  fruehen 
Morgen  bis  jezt — nein,  ein  reiner,  goettlicher 
Genuss  war  dieser  Tag  fuer  uns.  Heute  empfanden 
wir  die  Wahrheint,dass  der  Mensch  nicht  vom  Erode 
allein  lebt,  sondern  von  Gottes  Hauch  durchdrun- 
gen,  seelige  Freude  trinkt  aus  der  Ouelle  der  Begeis- 
terung. 

Diese  Stunde  gemahnt  uns  an  die  Scheide- 
stunde des  groessten  aller  Propheten.  Sein  Herzens- 
wunsch,  das  Land  seiner  Sehnsucht  zu  betreten,  ist 
ihm  versagt  worden.  Nicht  er,  sondern  sein 
Schueler  soil  sein  Werk  vollbringen.  Ihm  aber 
wird  die  Botschaft,  hinaufzugehen  auf  die  Hoehe 
Nebos,  und  von  dort  aus  das  Land  zu  schauen,  das 
Gott  seinem  Yolke  verheissen  hat.  Die  Sonne  hat 
wohl  an  Kraft  verloren,  aber  an  milder  Wserme,  an 
lieblicher  Schoenheit  gewonnen.  Alles  um  ihn  her 
athmet  Ruhe  und  Frieden.  Wie  das  summt  und 
singt  in  seinen  Ohren  !  Sind  das  Stimmen  der  Ver- 
gangenheit  oder  Ahnungen  der  Zukunft  ?  Er  hat 


54  HOFFNUIfG    U.ND  TROST. 

den  Gipfel  erreiclit.  Nicht  satt  sehen  kcennen  sich 
die  alten  Augen.  Acli  der  herrliche  Ausblick  aufs 
Land !  Dort  der  Libanon,  der  schneegekoernte, 
Carmel's  sagenumrauschte  Hoehe  winkt  ihm  ;  Miz- 
peh  leiichted  ihm  entegegen — und  dort  die  herr- 
liche, bergumrahmte  Stadt,  Zion  der  heilige  Berg. 
Und  er  sieht  die  Geschlechter  voruberziehn — die 
Helden,  die  Fnersten,  die  Propheten.  Er  sieht  die 
Flamme  der  Zerstoerung  ;  er  hoert  das  Rasseln  der 
Ketten — die  Gefangenen  seines  Volkes  tragen  sie 
in  die  Ferae.  Es  truebt  sich  sein  Blick.  1st  es  eine 
Wolke,  ist  es  Ahnung  der  Trauer  ?  Lange,  lange 
sucht  sein  Blick  nach  einem  lichten  Punkt — dort 
flammt  es  auf  intrueberNaeht — das  grelle  Licht  der 
Scheiterhaufen  ist  es,  das  im  Westen  aufblitzt.  Die 
Getreuen  seines  Stammes  stehen  am  Marterpfahl. 
Seinen  alten  Schlachtruf  wiederholen  sie  im 
Flammentot :  Sh'  ma  Yisrael,  Hoere  O  Israel,  hoere, 
O  Menscheit,  fuer  den  einzigen  Gott  wollen  wir 
sterben. 

Da  hoert  er  das  Rauschen  msechtiger  Ge- 
wsesser ;  ein  Schiff  schaukelt  anf  dem  Weltmeer 
— ein  Gottesheld,  vom  Ewigen  gesandt,  zieht  hinaus 
gen  Westen.  Aus  dem  Ocean  hebt  sieh  eine  neue 
Welt — die  herrlichste  Frucht  amBaum  des  Lebens, 
Freiheit,  hier  wird  sie  gefunden.  Die  gehetzten 
Soehne  kommen,  hier  finden  sie  Rnhe ;  hier  bauen 
sie  Altsere  dem  lebendigen  Gotte — hier  verkuenden 
sie  seinen  Namen.  Anf  den  weiten  Ebnen,  an  den 
grossen  Seen,  an  den  westlichen  Bergen,  erschallen 
die  Worte  die  er,  der  Meister  gelehrt.  Da  stimmt 


HOFFNUNG   UKD   TROST.  55 

auch  er  ein  in  den  vieltausendfachen  Chor  :  Boruch 
schem  k'vod  mal'chuso;  ja,  dein  Gottesreich  es 
naht — gepriesen  sei  dein  Name. 

Sein  Auge  richtet  den  Blick  nach  oben.  Am 
Himmel  strahlts  in  wunderbarem  Glanze.  Ein 
Wolkenschleier  aus  Licht  und  Gold  gewoben  senkt 
sich  hernieder — ein  suesser  Hauch  toent  an  sein 
Ohr — ja  das  ist  die  Gottesstimme,  die  er  so  oft  ver- 
nommen.  Der  Ewige,  der  Weltengebieter,  er  selbst 
ruft  den  Namen  seines  treuen  Knechtes.  Auf  die 
Kniee  gesunken  ist  die  greise  Riesengestalt,  und 
ehrfurchtsvoll  liauchen  seine  bebenden  Lippen  den 
Namen  des  Allmsechtigen  :  Adonoy  hu  lio-elohim. 
Des  Aethers  Wellen  tragen  den  Laut  in  alle  Lande 
und  bringen  tausendfach  den  Schall  zurueck: 
Adonoy  hu  ho-Elohim.  Der  Herr  allein  is  Gott ! 
Nur  noch  der  Rand  des  Sonnballs  schwebt  ueber 
dem  Saum  der  Erde.  Da  trifft  ein  Strahl  der 
sinkenden  Sonne  den  Mund  des  Gotteshelden — das 
warder  Scheidegruss,  das  war  der  Sterbekuss  von 
seinem  Gotte  auf  Lichtes  Schwingen  gesandt. 
Dichtes  Gewoelk  senkt  sich  hernieder,  unsichtbare 
Hsende  tragen  die  leblose  Huelle  hinab  ins 
Thai  und  betten  sie  zu  suessem  Schlummer.  Und 
kein  Mensch  kennt  das  Grab,  wo  der  gr'ceste  der 
Sterblichen  ruht. 

Diese  Stunde  ist  fuer  uns  ein  Berg  Nebo,  eine 
Gotteshoehe  zur  Ausschau  und  Einsicht. 

Im  L0erm  und  Taumel  des  Lebens  geben  wir 
uns  nur  zu  leicht  dem  truegerischeii  Wahne  hin, 
diese  uns  umgebende  Welt  sei  daurende  Wirklich- 


56  HOFFNUNG   UND   TKOST. 

keit.  An  der  Scholle  haftend  bauen  wir  uns 
Hffiuser  als  wollten  wir  evig  hier  weilen.  Die 
Genuesse  des  Lebens  scheinen  uns  die  wahren, 
unvergflenglichen  Gueter.  Dass  dem  nicht  so  ist, 
lelirt  ja  die  einfachste  Erfahrung.  Wie  lange  auch 
das  Leben  des  Einzeluen  sich  ausspinnen  mag,  am 
Ende  seines  Daseins  sieht  er  doch,  dass  er  um 
werthlosen  Tand  sich  abgemueht.  Wonach  er 
gestrebt,  selbst  wenn  er  es  erreicht  hat — er  kann  es 
nicht  mit  hinuebernehmen  in  die  unbekannte  Welt. 
Welchen  Werth  hsette  auch  solch  ein  Dasein— 
dieses  Einerlei  der  Arbeit,  des  Essens  und  des 
Schlafens ! 

Nicht  die  Welt  wie  sie  ist,  sondern  wie  sie  sein 
soil,  wie  der  schaffende  und  gestaltende  Geist  sie 
erblickt,  ist  die  wahre  Welt.  Das  Ideal  ist  Wahr- 
heit,  die  Wirklichkeit  Schein.  Die  Geschlechter 
kommen  and  gehen,  der  Einzelne  erscheint  und 
entschwindet — ein  kurzer  Lichtblick  zwischen 
endlosem  Nichtsein — doch  das  ideale  Reich  des 
Geistes,  die  ragenden  Hoahen  der  sittlichen  Msechte, 
sie  glsenzen  in  eviger  Schoenheit.  Was  wir  beitragn 
zu  diesem  Reich,  was  wir  schaffen  zur  Veredelung 
der  Menschheit,  zur  Mehrung  des  Wissens,  zum 
Wachsttium  wahrer  Gesittung,  das  allein  hat  blei- 
benden  Werth,  das  allein  ist  unser  wahrer  Gewinn. 

Dann  schreckt  uns  auch  der  Gedanke  des  Todes 
nicht.  Der  gewcehnliche  Mensch  fuerchtet  den  Tod. 
Im  Lichte  idealen  Strebens  erblicken  wir  das  Ende 
als  eine  Gottesbotschaft.  Wer  als  aechter  Mensch 
gelebt,  wird  vor  der  Todesstunde  nicht  zittern.  Er 


HOFFNUNG   UND   TROST.  57 

hat  seiner  Zeit  sein  edelstes  Streben  anvertraut, 
darum  wird  die  Zeit  sein  Andenken  in  Dankbar- 
keit  bewahren.  Nicht  den  Tand  und  den  Schein  ver- 
erbt  er  seinen  Kindern  und  Enkelssoehnen,  sondern 
seines  Geistes  und  Herzens  Schaetze.  Wie  wir  im 
Geiste  die  Schmerzen  mitempfinden,  die  vergan- 
gene  Geschlechter  erlebt,  wie  wir  ihre  Triumphe 
nach  Jalirtausenden  feiern,  so  werden  wir  aucli 
nach  tausand  Altern,  wenn  wir  Werke  des  Geistes 
geschaffen,  das  verheissene  Land  einer  bessern 
Menschlieit  mit  verjuengten  Augen  durch  unsere 
spsetgeborenen  Nachkommen  sehen  und  geniessen. 

Unsere  Theuren,  die  von  uns  genommen,  leben 
und  wirken  sie  nicht  in  und  durch  uns  weiter  fort  ? 
Mancher  Sitz  in  diesem  Temple  is  heute  leer.  Noch 
vor  einem  Jahre  sass  hier  der  greise  Lehrer,  der 
treue  Preund  Liebman  Adler.  Lebt  er  nicht  noch 
in  unserer  Mitte  ?  Die  Wackern  und  Edlen  unserer 
Gemeinde,  die  den  Gottesruf  vernommen,  durch 
unsern  Mund  sprechen  sie  heute  die  Bekenntniss- 
worte  ihres  Glaubens  an  dieser  Stsette  aus. 

Darum  nicht  in  Trauer,  sondern  in  freudiger 
Erhebung  wollen  wir  unserer  Lieben  in  dieser 
Stunde  gedenken.  In  ihrem  Geiste  wollen  wir  leben 
und  wirken.  Dann  werden  uns  von  dort  wo  unsere 
Thrsenen  gefallen,  liebliche  Blumen  der  Hoffunung 
erspriessen,  und  auf  den  Grabeshuegeln  unserer 
Lieben  werden  Saaten  des  Trostes,  Fruechte  der 
Unsterblichkeit  reifen.  Amen. 


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